Translation:Numbers

by Moses (traditional), Yahwist (hypothetical), Priestly redactor (hypothetical)

For other English-language translations of this work, see Numbers (Bible).

Chapter 1

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first [day] of the second month, in the second year since they left the land of Egypt, saying:

² Take every head of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by the house of their fathers, in a census of names, a headcount of every male. ³ From the age of twenty years and up, everyone who goes out to war of Israel, number them by their ranks, you and Aaron. ⁴ And they will be with you, a man for each tribe, each man a head of his ancestral house.

⁵ And these are the names of the men who will stand with you.

For Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeiur.

⁶ For Simeon: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

⁷ For Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab.

⁸ For Issachar: Nethanel son of Zuar.

⁹ For Zebulun: Eliab son of Helon.

¹⁰ For the sons of Joseph -- for Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud. For Manasseh: Gamliel son of Pedahzur.

¹¹ For Benjamin: Abidan son of Gideoni.

¹² For Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

¹³ For Asher: Pagiel son of Ochran.

¹⁴ For Gad: Eliasaph son of Deuel.

¹⁵ For Naphtali: Ahira son of Enan.

¹⁶ These are the ones called from the congregation, leaders of their fathers' tribes. They are the chiefs of the thousands^[1] of Israel.

¹⁷ And Moses and Aaron, took these people, who were appointed by name. ¹⁸ And they gathered the whole congregation, on the first [day] of the second month, and they recorded their genealogies, by their clans, according to their ancestral houses, in a census of names, from age twenty years and up, each head. ¹⁹ As Yahweh commanded Moses, he accounted for them in the Sinai desert. •^[2]

²⁰ And the sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses: in their headcount name-census -- every male from age twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ²¹ Their account, for the tribe of Reuben, was 46,500. ¶^[3]

²² For the sons of Simeon, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses. Those who were counted, in the name-census of their heads, every male of age twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ²³ Those who were counted, of the tribe of Simeon, were 59,300. ¶

²⁴ And of the sons of Gad, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, by the count of names from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ²⁵ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were 45,650. ¶

²⁶ Of the sons of Judah, their geneologies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from age twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ²⁷ Those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were 74,600. ¶

²⁸ And the sons of Issaschar, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, by the count of names from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ²⁹ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were 54,400. ¶

³⁰ Of the sons of Zebulun, their geneologies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from the age of twenty years and up, all go out to war. ³¹ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were 57,400. ¶

³² And of Joseph's sons, of the sons of Ephraim, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ³³ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, 40,500. ¶

³⁴ Of the sons of Manasseh, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from age twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ³⁵ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were 32,200. ¶

³⁶ Of the sons of Benjamin, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ³⁷ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were 32,200. ¶

³⁸ Of the sons of Benjamin, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ³⁹ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Dan, were 62,700. ¶

⁴⁰ Of the sons of Asher, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from the age of twenty years and up, all that who go out to war. ⁴¹ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Asher, were 41,500. ¶

⁴² The sons of Naphtali, their genealogies, by their clans, by their ancestral houses, in the name-census, from the age of twenty years and up, all who go out to war. ⁴³ Those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were 53,400. ¶

⁴⁴ These are those counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the commanders of Israel, twelve men. They were one man from each ancestral house ⁴⁵ And they were, all the accounted of the house of Israel, of their fathers house, from the age of twenty and up, all that fills the ranks in Israel. ⁴⁶ All those counted were 603,550. ⁴⁷ But the Levites, of the tribe of their fathers, were not counted among them. ¶

⁴⁸ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

⁴⁹ Only the tribe of Levi you will not count, and you will not take their head-count among the sons of Israel. ⁵⁰ And you will appoint the Levites over the dwelling of the testimony, and over all its implement, and all that is within it. They will carry the dwelling and all its implements, and they will serve it, and around the dwelling they will camp. ⁵¹ And when the tabernacle continues its journey, the Levites will dismantle it. And when the dwelling is to settle into camp, the Levites will erect it. And the outsider who approaches will be put to death.

⁵² And the sons of Israel will camp, each man in his encampment, and each with his own banner, by their armies. ⁵³ And the Levites will camp around the dwelling of the testimony, and there will no wrath against the congregation of the sons of Israel. And the Levites kept watch over the dwelling of the testimony. ⁵⁴ And the sons of Israel did so. As all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.

Chapter 2

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

² The sons of Israel will camp each under their banner, by family; around the Tent of Meeting they shall camp. ³ And those camping on the east side: the banner of the camp of Judah, the prince^[4] of the Judahites^[5] being Nahshon son of Amminadab. ⁴ His army numbered 74,600. ⁵ And camping with them will be the tribe of Issachar, the prince of the people of Issachar^[6] being Nethanel son of Zuar, ⁶ with his army, which numbers 54,400; ⁷ and the tribe of Zebulun, the prince of the people^[7] of Zebulun being Eliab son of Helon, ⁸ with his army, which numbers 57,400. ⁹ All those counted of the camp of Judah were 186,400. They will move out first.

¹⁰ The banner of the camp of Reuben, on the south, according to their armies, the prince of the people^[8] of Reuben being Elizur son of Shedeiur. ¹¹ And his army was numbered as 46,500. ¹² And camping alongside them, the tribe of Simeon. The prince of the people^[9] of Simeon was Shelumiel son of Zuri-shaddai. ¹³ And his army was numbered as 59,300. ¹⁴ Then the tribe of Gad, and the prince of the Gadites^[10] was Eliasaph son of Deuel^[11]. ¹⁵ And his army numbered 45,650. ¹⁶ All those counted of the camp of Reuben: 151,450, according to their armies. They will move out second.

¹⁷ And the Tent of Meeting, the camp of the Levites, will move out with the [other] camps. They shall camp the same way they travel: each man at his position, according to their banners. ¹⁸ The banner of the camp of Ephraim, according to their armies, were on the west, and the prince of the Ephraimites^[12] was Elishama son of Ammihud. ¹⁹ And his army numbered 40,500. ²⁰ And next to him was the tribe of Manasseh, and the prince of the Manassites^[13] was Gamliel son of Pedahzur. ²¹ And his army numbered 32,200. ²² Then the tribe of Benjamin, and the prince of the Benjamites^[14] was Abidan son of Gideoni. ²³ And his army numbered 35,400. ²⁴ All those counted of the camp of Ephrai were 108,100, according to their armies. They will move out third.

²⁵ The banner of the camp of Dan, was on the north, according to their armies. The prince of the Danites^[15] was Ahiezer son of Amishaddai. ²⁶ And his army numbered 62,700. ²⁷ And those camped next to him were the tribe of Asher. The prince of the Asherites^[16] was Pagiel son of Ocran. ²⁸ And his army numbered 41,500. ²⁹ Next was the tribe of Naphtali. The prince of the Naphtalites^[17] was Ahira son of Einan. ³⁰ And his army numbered 53,400. ³¹ All those counted of the camp of Dan were 157,600. They will move out last, under their banners.

³² These are those counted of the Israelites,^[18] according to their families. All those counted of the camps, according to their armies, were 603,550. ³³ But the Levites were not numbered with the sons of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³⁴ And the sons of Israel did according to all Yahweh commanded Moses. Thus did they camp according to their banners, and thus did they move out, every man according to his clan, with his family.

Chapter 3

¹ These are the descendants of Aaron and Moses on the day Yahweh spoke with Moses at Mount Sinai. ² And these are the names of the sons of Aaron the elderː Nadav and Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar. ³ These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests who were capable^[19] of priesthood. ⁴ But Nadav and Avihu died before Yahweh, when they sacrificed with a foreign fire before Yahweh in the Sinai Desert. They had no sons. Elazar and Itamar served as priests before their father Aaron. ⁵ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶ Bring close the tribe of Levi and place it before Aaron, and they shall serve him. ⁷ And they shall guard for him and for all the congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to work in the Tabernacle. ⁸ And they shall guard all the apparatuses of the Tent of Meeting and guard the sons of Israel, by working in the Tabernacle. ⁹ And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons as presents. They are presents to him from the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ And you shall number Aaron and his sons. And they shall guard their priesthood, but the foreigner [non-Levite] who comes near will be killed.

¹¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

¹² See, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel, instead of every eldest son who opens the womb, among the sons of Israel. And the Levites shall be mine. ¹³ For all the eldest sons are mine. On the day I struck every eldest son in the land of Egypt, I sanctified every eldest son in Israel to me. They shall be mine, man and beast alike. I am Yahweh.

¹⁴ And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, saying:

¹⁵ Number the sons of Levi, according to their households and families. You shall number every male, from a month old and over.

¹⁶ And Moses numbered them by Yahweh's [command], as he was commanded. ¹⁷ And these were the sons of Levi: by name, Gershon and Kehat and Merari. ¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Livni and Shim'ei. ¹⁹ And the sons of Kehat by their families: Amram and Yitzhar, Ḥevron and Uziel. ²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their families: Makhli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites, by their households: ²¹ Gershon: the Livnite family and the Shimite family. These are the Gershonite families. ²² Their numbered: every male from a month old and over, seven thousand five hundred. ²³ The Gershonite families are behind the Tabernacle. They shall camp to the west. ²⁴ And the prince of the Gershonite household: Elyasaf son of La'el. ²⁵ And the watch of the Gershonite family in the Tent of Meeting: the Tabernacle and the Tent, its covering, and the covering of the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²⁶ And the hangings of the court and the screen in front of the court which is near the Tabernacle and the altar, all around. And its strings, all its work. ²⁷ Kehat: The Amramite family, the Yitzharite family, the Ḥevronite family, and the Uzielite family. These are the Kehatite families. ²⁸ Their numbered: every male from a month old and over, eight thousand six hundred guardians of the holy watch. ²⁹ The families of the sons of Kehat shall camp on the side of the Tabernacle, southward. ³⁰ And the prince of the Kehatite families: Elitzafan son of Uziel. ³¹ And their watch is the Ark, the Table, and the Candelabra, and the altars, and the holy apparatuses with which they serve, and the screen with all its work. ³² And the prince of the princes of the Levites: Elazar son of Aaron the priest, overseeing the guardians of the holy watch. ³³ Merari: the Makhlite family and the Mushite family. These are the families of Merari. ³⁴ Their numbered: every male from a month old and over, six thousand two hundred. ³⁵ And the prince of the household of the families of Merari: Tzuriel son of Avikhail. They shall camp on the side of the Tabernacle, northwards. ³⁶ And the charge of the watch of the sons of Merari: the woodwork of the Tabernacle and its bars, and its pillars and its socket, and all its apparatuses and all its work. ³⁷ And the pillars of the surrounding court, and their sockets and pins and cords. ³⁸ And camping before the Tabernacle, eastwards, east of the Tent of Meeting: Moses and Aaron and his sons, who watch the sanctified watch to watch the sons of Israel. But the foreigner who comes near will be killed. ³⁹ All the numbered of the Levites whom Moses and Aaron numbered, according to Yahweh's [command], by their families, every male from a month old and over: twenty two thousand. ⁴⁰ And Yahweh said to Moses:

Number every eldest male of the sons of Israel, from a month old and over, and count their names. ⁴¹ And take the Levites to me ([for] I am Yahweh), instead of every eldest among the sons of Israel, and the beasts of the Levites instead of every eldest of the beasts of the sons of Israel.

⁴² And Moses numbered every eldest of the sons of Israel, as Yahweh commanded him. ⁴³ And every eldest male a month old and over, in the count of names, were twenty two thousand two hundred and seventy three. ⁴⁴ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

⁴⁵ Take the Levites instead of every eldest of the sons of Israel, and the beasts of the Levites instead of their beasts, and the Levites shall be mine. I am Yahweh. ⁴⁶ And [regarding] the replacement of the two hundred and seventy three additional of the eldest of the sons of Israel over the Levites: ⁴⁷ Take five, five shekels for each one^[20] in holy shekels. Take twenty geras per shekel. ⁴⁸ And give the silver to Aaron and his sons, from those who were additional to those replaced by the Levites.

⁴⁹ And Moses took the replacement silver from those additional to those replaced by the Levites. ⁵⁰ He took the silver from the eldest of the sons of Israel: one thousand three hundred and sixty five holy shekels. ⁵¹ And Moses gave the replacement silver to Aaron and his sons, as Yahweh had said, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Chapter 4

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

² Promote^[21] the sons of Kehat from among the sons of Levi, by their families and households. ³ From thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, every one [capable] of coming to the army, to do work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴ This is the service of the sons of Kehat in the Tent of Meeting, the Holy of Holies:

⁵ When the camp moves out, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the curtain of the screen, and cover the Ark of Testimony with it. ⁶ And they shall put a covering of porpoise skin on it, and spread a wholly blue cloth from above, and place its poles.

⁷ And on the Table of the Presnce they shall spread a blue cloth, and put the dishes and spoons and bowls and covers and the jars for drink-sacrifices. And the Perpetual Bread shall be upon it. ⁸ And they shall spread a cloth of scarlet on them, and cover it with a covering of porpoise skin, and place its poles.

⁹ And they shall take a blue cloth, and cover with it the Candelabra of Lighting, its candles, its snuffers, its trays, and all its oil vessels, which they service it with. ¹⁰ And they shall place it and all its apparatuses under a porpoise skin covering, and put it on the [carrying] bars.

¹¹ And on the Golden Altar they shall spread a blue cloth, and cover it with a porpoise skin covering, and place its poles.

¹² And they shall take all the service apparatuses with which they service in the Sanctuary, and put them under a blue cloth, and cover them with a porpoise skin covering, and put the, on the [carrying] bars. ¹³ And they shall sweep away the ashes from the Altar, and spread a scarlet cloth on it. ¹⁴ And they shall put on it all the apparatuses with which they work, on it: the trays, and the forks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the apparatuses of the Altar. And they shall spread a porpoise skin covering on it, and place its poles.

¹⁵ And Aaron and his sons shall come to cover the Sanctuary, and all the apparatuses of the Sanctuary, and afterwards shall the sons of Kehat come to carry [it], and shall not touch the Sanctuary, [otherwise] they shall die. This is the assignment of the sons of Kehat in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶ And the charge of Elazar son of Aaron the Priest: the oil for lighting, the incense, and the perpetual grain sacrifice. This is the charge of all the Tabernacle and all things inside it. And all that is within it, in the Sanctuary, and in its apparatuses.

¹⁷ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

¹⁸ Do not cut away the tribe and family of the Kehatites, from among the Levites. ¹⁹ So do this to them, so that they live instead of dying when they come to the Holy of Holies: Aaron and his sons shall come, and each man shall put them to their work and carrying load. ²⁰ And they shall not come and see the destroying Sanctuary.

²¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

²² Promote^[21] the sons of Gershon also, according to their households and families. ²³ Number them, from thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old. All who come to fill [the ranks of the] army, to work in the Tent of Meeting. ²⁴ This is the work of the Gershonite family, in work and carrying. ²⁵ And they shall carry the tapestries of the Tabernacle, and the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the porpoise [skin] covering above it, and the screen at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²⁶ And the curtains of the courtyard, and the screen at the entrance to the courtyard, which surrounds the Tabernacle and the Altar, and their cords, and all their apparatuses of work, and all they should do, and they shall work.

²⁷ The work of the sons of the Gershonites shall be [done] according to Aaron and his sons, all their carrying and all their labor. And charge them with guarding all they carry.

²⁸ This is the work of the family of the sons of the Gershonites in the Tent of Meeting. Itamar, son of Aaron, the priest, is charged with them.

²⁹ Number the sons of Merari by their families and by their households.

³⁰ Number them from thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, all who come to the ranks [in order] to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.

³¹ And this is what they are charged with carrying, as a part of all their work in the Tent of Meeting: the woodwork of the Tabernacle, and its pins, and its foundations and pillars. ³² And the pillars of the surrounding courtyard, and their foundations and pins and cords, for all their apparatuses and work. ³³ This is the work of the family of the sons of Merari in the Tent of Meeting, [which is] in the hand of Itamar, son of Aaron, the priest.

³⁴ And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted the sons of the Kehathites, according to their families and to their households. ³⁵ From thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, all who come to the ranks for the work of the Tent of Meeting.

³⁶ And their numbered, according to their families, were two thousand, seven hundred, and fifty.

³⁷ These are the numbered of the Kehatite families, all who worked in the Tent of Meeting, which Moses and Aaron numbered, according to Yahweh['s command].

³⁸ And the numbered of the sons of Gershon, according to their families and households, ³⁹ from thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, all who come to the ranks for the work of the Tent of Meeting:

⁴⁰ And their numbered, according to their families and households, were two thousand, six hundred, and thirty. ⁴¹ These are the numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who worked in the Tent of Meeting, which Moses and Aaron numbered, according to Yahweh['s command].

⁴² And the numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families and households, ⁴³ from thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, all who come to the ranks for the work of the Tent of Meeting: ⁴⁴ And their numbered, by their families, were three thousand and two hundred. ⁴⁵ These are the numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, which Moses and Aaron numbered, according to Yahweh['s command] by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁵ [These are] the numbered whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered from among the Levites, by their families and households, ⁴⁶ from thirty years old and over, up to fifty years old, all who came to work in [regular] work and carrying work in the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁷ And their numbered were eight thousand, five hundred, and eighty.

⁴⁸ They were numbered by Yahweh['s command], by the hand of Moses, each man according to his work and his carrying load, and his numbering, which Yahweh commanded Moses.

Chapter 5

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

² Order the sons of Israel to send away from the camp all who are stricken with leprosy, all who have discharges [from their members], and anyone who has become impure because of a person. ³ You shall send away male and female alike; send them away from the camp, so that they will not defile the camps in which I dwell.

⁴ And the sons of Israel did so; they sent them away from the camp. As Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the sons of Israel do.

⁵ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

⁶ Speak to the sons of Israel [thus]: if any man or woman should commit one of the human sins, [which involve] misappropriating Yahweh['s property], that person shall be guilty. ⁷ And they shall confess the sin they have committed, return the [value] of the guilt, and add a fifth of it, and return it to whose property they misappropriated. ⁸ But if the man has no heir to return the guilt to - the guilt [shall be] returned to Yahweh, to the priest, excepting the ram of forgiveness, with which he shall be forgiven. ⁹ And any donation to any of the sanctuaries of the sons of Israel, which shall be sacrificed to the priest - it shall be his [the sacrificer's]. ¹⁰ And each man's sanctified [possessions] shall be with him; [whatever] a man gives to the priest shall be with him.

¹¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

¹² Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them:

if the wife of any man cheat [on him] and betray his trust, ¹³ and a man lies with her sexually^[22], and her husband does not know, so while hidden she is defiled with no witness, and she has been caught [in the act], ¹⁴ and a jealous spirit enters^[23] him and he becomes jealous of his wife and she has in fact been defiled, or if a jealous spirit enters him and she has not, in fact, been defiled. ¹⁵ And the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring her sacrifice with him, twenty ephas of barley flour. He shall pour no oil or place any frankincense with it, because it is a jealousy-offering, a memorial offering which is a memento of injustice.

¹⁶ And the priest shall bring her close, and stand her up in front of Yahweh. ¹⁷ And the priest shall take holy water in pottery vessels, and the priest shall take some of the dust at the floor of the Tabernacle, and put it in the water.

¹⁸ And the priest shall stand the woman in front of Yahweh, and bare her head, and put the memorial offering in her hands (it is a jealousy-offering). And in the priest's hands shall be the water of cursing bitterness.

¹⁹ And the priest shall make her swear, and say to the woman: "If no man has lain with you, and if you have not cheated and been defiled from under your husband, be cleansed of these waters of cursing bitterness. ²⁰ But you, [if you have] cheated under your husband, and become defiled, and a man other than your husband has put his discharge [of seed] in you," ²¹ And the priest shall make the woman swear these oaths, and the priest shall say to the woman: "May Yahweh make you a scourge and a curse among your people, as Yahweh will make your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. ²² And these cursing waters shall enter your stomach, to make your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell." And the woman shall say: "Amen, amen."

²³ And the priest shall write these scourges in a book, and erase them with the bitter waters. ²⁴ And he shall make the woman drink the waters of cursing bitterness. And the cursing waters shall come into her, to be bitter.

²⁵ And the priest shall take the jealousy offering from the woman's hand, and wave the offering in front of Yahweh, and place it on the Altar. ²⁶ And the priest shall take with his fingers [even] the memorial of the offering, and burn it on the Altar. And afterwards he shall make the woman drink the waters. ²⁷ And he shall make her drink the waters, and it shall be that if she has [indeed] been defiled and betrayed her husband's trust, then the cursing waters shall come into her to be bitter, and her abdomen shall swell and her womb miscarry, and the woman shall become a scourge and a curse among her people.

²⁸ But if the woman has not been defiled (and she is pure), then she shall be blameless, and impregnated^[24].

²⁹ This is the instruction regarding jealousy, occurring if a woman cheat under her husband, and become defiled, ³⁰ or if a spirit of jealousy enter a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife, and he shall stand the woman up in front of Yahweh, and the priest shall fulfill all this instruction to her. ³¹ And the man will be innocent^[25] of any injustice, but the woman shall suffer her own.

Chapter 6

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying:

² Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them:

If a man or woman speak and vow a vow of abstinence, (to abstain), to Yahweh,

³ He shall abstain from wine and liquor, he shall not drink fermented wine or fermented liquor, and he shall not drink anything squeezed from grapes, and he shall not eat grapes, whether wet or dry. ⁴ All the days of his abstinence he shall not eat anything made from wine-grapes, from the pits to the skin.

⁵ And in all the days of his vow of abstinence, no razor shall pass over his head. Until the days he is abstaining [for Yahweh's sake] end, he shall be holy: he shall let the hair of his head grow wild.

⁶ All the days of his abstinence for Yahweh, he shall not approach any dead person. ⁷ He will not be defiled [even] by his dead father, or mother, or brother, or sister, because he is bearing the abstinence [for] his God on his head.

⁸ All the days of his abstinence, he is holy to Yahweh.

⁹ And if someone dies in his presence suddenly, and he shall defile his abstinent head, and shave his head on the day he is purified (on the seventh day [afterwards]). ¹⁰ And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves, or two sons of doves, to the priest, to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ¹¹ And the priest shall perform their sacrifices, one as a sin offering and one as a whole offering, and he shall redeem him from the sin he had committed on account of the [dead] soul, and he shall sanctify his head on that day.

¹² And he shall reprise to Yahweh the days of his abstinence, and bring a lamb one year old as a guilt offering, and the first period of abstinence shall be disregarded, for he had defiled that abstinence.

¹³ And this is the instruction regarding the abstainer on the day his abstinence is fulfilled, he shall be brought in front of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁴ And he shall sacrifice his offering to Yahweh: one, whole, lamb one year old as a whole offering, and one whole one year old ewe for a sin offering, and one whole ram as a peace offering. ¹⁵ And a basket of unleavened bread, and a basket of bread dipped in oil, and strings of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their crop offerings, and the appropriate wine offerings. ¹⁶ And the priest shall bring it before Yahweh, and perform the sin offering and whole offering. ¹⁷ And he shall make the ram a peace offering on the basket of unleavened bread, and the priest shall perform its crop and wine offerings. ¹⁸ And the abstainer shall shave his abstinent head in front of the Tent of Meeting, and take the hair from his abstinent head and put in the fire under the peace offering. ¹⁹ The priest will take the boiled shoulder from the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the Nazirite, after his consecrated head is shaven. ²⁰ The priest will wave them as a wave-offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, along with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave-offering. After this, the Nazirite may drink wine. ²¹ This is the law of the Nazirite who has made a vow, [and of] his gift to Yahweh on account of his vow, besides whatever else he can afford. Whatever vow he has made, that is what he must do in accordance with the law concerning his Nazirite status.

²² And Yahweh said to Moses, ²³ "Tell Aaron and his sons that this is how you are to bless the the Israelites, by saying to them, ²⁴ 'May Yahweh bless you and watch over you. ²⁵ May Yahweh's face be radiant toward you, and may he show you favor. ²⁶ May Yahweh lift up his expression toward you, and give you peace.' ²⁷ They will set my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them."

Chapter 7

¹ Now on the day that Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and consecrated it, and all its associated objects, and the altar and all its associated objects, and had anointed them and consecrated them, ² the leaders of Israel, the heads of their ancestral houses, those who were the leaders of the tribes, those who oversaw those who were counted [in the census], ³ brought their gifts to the presence of Yahweh: six large carts^[26] and twelve oxen (a cart for every two leaders, and an ox each) and offered them in front of the tabernacle.

⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, ⁵ “Accept it from them, in order to carry out the duties of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, distributed according to their duties.”^[27]

⁶ So Moses took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two of the carts and four of the oxen to the Gershonites,^[28] according to their duties. ⁸ He gave four of the carts and eight of the oxen to the Merarites,^[29] according to their duties, under the supervision of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ And to the Kohathites^[30] he did not give any, because the duties pertaining to the sanctuary belonged to them; they would carry [the objects related to their duties] on their shoulders.

¹⁰ And the leaders brought [gifts for] the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed. The leaders brought their gifts in front of the altar. ¹¹ And Yahweh said to Moses: “Day by day, each leader,^[31] will present their his gift^[32] for the dedication of the altar. •

¹² The one who presented on the first day was Nahshon son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. ¹³ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ¹⁴ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ¹⁵ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ¹⁶ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ¹⁷ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Nahshon son of Amminadab. ¶

¹⁸ On the second day, Nethanel son of Zuar, leader of Issachar presented [his gift]. ¹⁹ He presented his gift of one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ²⁰ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ²¹ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ²² one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ²³ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Nethanel son of Zuar. ¶

²⁴ On the third day, the leader of the people of Zebulun, Eliezer son of Helon [presented his gift]. ²⁵ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ²⁶ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ²⁷ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ²⁸ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ²⁹ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Eliab son of Helon.

³⁰ On the fourth day the leader of the people of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur, [presented his gift]. ³¹ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ³² one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ³³ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ³⁴ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ³⁵ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Elizur son of Shedeur.

³⁶ On the fifth day the leader of the people of Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, [presented his gift]. ³⁷ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ³⁸ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ³⁹ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁴⁰ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁴¹ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Shelumiel son of Zerishaddai.

⁴² On the six day the leader of the people of Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel, [presented his gift]. ⁴³ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁴⁴ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁴⁵ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁴⁶ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁴⁷ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Eliasaph son of Deuel.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day the leader of the people of Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, [presented his gift]. ⁴⁹ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁵⁰ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁵¹ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁵² one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁵³ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Elishama son of Amminud.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day the leader of the people of Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedah-zur, [presented his gift]. ⁵⁵ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁵⁶ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁵⁷ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁵⁸ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁵⁹ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Gamaliel son of Pedah Zur.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day, the leader of the people of Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni, [presented his gift]. ⁶¹ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁶² one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁶³ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁶⁴ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁶⁵ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Abidan son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day, the leader of the people of Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, [presented his gift]. ⁶⁷ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁶⁸ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁶⁹ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁷⁰ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁷¹ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.

⁷² On the eleventh day, the leader of the people of Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran, [presented his gift]. ⁷³ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁷⁴ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁷⁵ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁷⁶ one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁷⁷ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Pagiel son of Ocran.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day, the leader of the people of Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan, [presented his gift]. ⁷⁹ His gift was one silver dish^[33] weighing one hundred thirty shekels,^[34] one silver bowl of seventy shekels, measured according to the sanctuary shekel,^[35] both of them filled with fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, ⁸⁰ one golden pan [weighing] ten [shekels], filled with incense, ⁸¹ one young bull from the herd,^[36] one ram, one lamb in its first year,^[37] for a burnt offering, ⁸² one male goat^[38] for a sin-offering, ⁸³ and for the peace-offering sacrifice two oxen, five rams, five goats, five lambs of the first year.^[39] This was the gift of Ahira son of Enan.

⁸⁴ This was the dedication gift of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden pans: ⁸⁵ one hundred thirty [shekels] for each silver dish, seventy [shekels] for each bowl. All the silver vessels [weighed] two thousand four hundred, measured in sanctuary shekels. ⁸⁶ [There were] twelve golden pan, filled with incense, ten [shekels] for each pan, in sanctuary shekels. All the gold of the pans was one hundred twenty [shekels]. ⁸⁷ All the oxen for the burnt offering were twelve young bulls, twelve rams, twelve lambs a year old, with their meal-offering. And there were twelve kids of the goats for a sin-offering. ⁸⁸ And all the oxen for the peace-offering sacrifice were twenty-four young bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty lambs a year old. This was the dedication gift for the altar, after it was anointed.

⁸⁹ And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with him, he heard the sound of someone speaking to him from above the lid of the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, and he spoke to him.

Chapter 8

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, ² "Speak to Moses, and say to him, 'When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps should illuminate the area in front of the menorah.'" ³ Aaron did so. He set up its lamps facing in front of the menorah, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁴ This is how the menorah was made of hammered gold: from its base^[40] to its flowers it was hammered work. Following the pattern which Yahweh showed to Moses, that is how the menorah was made.

⁵ Then Yahweh said to Moses,

⁶ Take the Levites from among the Israelites, and purify them. ⁷ This is how you are to cleanse them. Sprinkle purifying water^[41] upon them, and cause them to shave all their flesh. They are to wash their garments and purify themselves. ⁸ Then they will take a young bull and its meal-offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you will take another young bull for a sin-offering. ⁹ And you will bring the Levites in front of the Tent of Meeting, and convene the whole assembly of Israelites. ¹⁰ Bring the Levites before Yahweh, and the people of Israel will place their hands on the Levites. ¹¹ Then Aaron will present the Levites as a wave-offering in front of Yahweh from the people of Israel, and they will work in the service of Yahweh.^{[42] 12} And the Levites will place their hands upon the heads of the bulls, and you will offer the one has a sin-offering, and the other as a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³ You will set the Levites in front of Aaron, and in front of his sons, and present them as a wave-offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴ You will distinguish the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites will be mine. ¹⁵ Afterward the Levites will go in for the service of the Tent of Meeting. You will cleanse them and present them as a wave-offering, ¹⁶ because they are given to me from among the people of Israel instead of the first from every womb, the firstborn of all the Israelites. I have taken them as my own, ¹⁷ because all the firstborn of the Israelites are mine, among humans and livestock. On the day that I killed every firstborn of the land of Egypt, I consecrated them for myself. ¹⁸ But I have taken the Levites instead of the firstborn of the Israelites. ¹⁹

Among the Israelites it is the Levites that I have given to Aaron and to his descendants,^[43] to carry out the religious rituals of the Israelites in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, to avoid plague^[44] breaking out among the Israelites approach the sanctuary.

²⁰ Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of Israelites did to the Levites everything that Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. That is what the Israelites did to them. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave-offering before Yahweh, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² Afterward, the Levites went in to carry out their service in the Tent of Meeting in front of Aaron and his sons. They did just as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites.

²³ Yahweh said to Moses, ²⁴ "This is concerning the Levites: from from twenty-five years old and upward they will carry out the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²⁵ And at the age of fifty years they will retire carrying out the service, and they will serve no longer. ²⁶ They may assist their brothers^[45] in the Tent of Meeting in performing their duties, but they must not do the work.^[46] This is how you will handle the levitical duties.

Chapter 9

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the second year since they left the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying, ² "The Israelites shall observe the passover at its appointed time. ³ On the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings,^[47] you shall observe it at its appointed time. According to all its regulations and according to all its customs you shall keep it."

⁴ Moses told the Israelites to observe the passover. ⁵ So they observed the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, between the two evenings, in the wilderness of Sinai. The Israelites did everything just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁶ Now there were some men who had been made ritually impure by a human corpse, so that they could not observe the passover that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. ⁷ And these men said to him, "We are impure because of a human corpse. Why are we excluding from presenting an offering to Yahweh at his appointed time among the Israelites?"

⁸ Moses said to them, "Stay here, and I will hear what Yahweh will command for you."

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, and said,

¹⁰ Speak to the Israelites, and tell them: Anyone who is unclean because of a dead body, or on a journey far away, among you or your future generations, is to observe Yahweh's passover. ¹¹ In the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the two evenings they are to observe it. They are to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ¹² They are to leave none of it until morning, and they are not to break a bone. They are to observe it, following every passover regulation. ¹³ And as for any man who is ritually pure, and is not on a journey, and refuses to observe the passover, that person is to be cut off^[48] from his people, because he has not presented Yahweh's offering at its appointed time. That man will be punished for his sin.

¹⁴ And when a resident alien^[49] stays among you, he is also to observe Yahweh's Passover. He is to observe it following the ordinance and custom of the Passover. You are to have one ordinance, for the resident alien and for the native-born.

¹⁵ And on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and at evening, upon the tabernacle there was something that looked like fire, until morning. ¹⁶ So it was always: the cloud covered it, and what appeared like fire at night. ¹⁷ And when the cloud was taken up from the Tent, then afterward the Israelites continued their journey, and where the cloud stopped, the Israelites would set up camp. ¹⁸ At Yahweh's command,^[50] the Israelites would journey, and at Yahweh's command they set up camp. As many days as the cloud would stay above the tabernacle, they stayed encamped. ¹⁹ And when the cloud would stay above the tabernacle many days, the Israelites would keep Yahweh's command, and would not continue their journey. ²⁰ And so it was, when the cloud would stay for a number of days above the tabernacle, as Yahweh instructed they would stay encamped, and as Yahweh instructed they would continue their journey. ²¹ And so it was, when the cloud was there from evening to morning, and the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey. Whether it was day or night, when the cloud was taken up they would continue their journey. ²² Whether it was two days, or a month, or [however many] days that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, staying above it, the Israelites would stay encamped, and would not continue their journey. But when it was taken up, they would continue their journey. ²³ At Yahweh's command they would stay, and at Yahweh's command they would go. They followed Yahweh's instruction, as Yahweh commanded through Moses.

Chapter 10

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

² Make yourself two silver trumpets. Make them by hammering the metal. They will serve for calling the congregation, and [to signal] packing up the encampments for a journey. ³ And when they blow them, the whole assembly is to assemble at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁴ And if they blow on just one, then the leaders, the heads of Israel's clans,^[51] are to gather themselves before you. ⁵ When you sound a signal, the encampments lying eastward are to pack up camp. ⁶ And when you sound a second signal, the camps lying southward are to pack up their camp. You shall sound a signal for their journeys. ⁷ And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow put not sound the signal.^{[52] 8} And the sons of Aaron, the priests, will blow the trumpets. This is to be an everlasting rule throughout your generations.

⁹ And when you go to war in your land against an adversary who oppresses you, you are to sound the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before Yahweh your god, and you will be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰ And when you celebrate, and on your appointed festivals, and at the beginnings of your months, you are to blow on the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings, and they will be a memorial before you god. I am Yahweh your god.

¹¹ Now, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the law. ¹² So the Israelites continued their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. ¹³ They journeyed at first^[53] following Yahweh's instruction through Moses. ¹⁴ The banner of the encampment of the Judahites journeyed onward first by their armies, and over its army was Nahshon ben^[54] Amminadab. ¹⁵ And in charge of the tribe of the Issacharites was Nethaneel ben Zur. ¹⁶ And over the army of the tribe of the Zebulunites was Eliab ben Helon.

¹⁷ And the tabernacle was disassembled, and the Gershonites and the Merarites picked up camp and continued the journey, carrying the tabernacle.

¹⁸ And the banner of the camp of Reuben continued journeying by their armies, and over this army was Elizur the son of Shedeur. ¹⁹ And over the army of the Simeonites was Shelumiel ben Zuri-shaddai. ²⁰ And over the army of the Gadites was Eliasaph ben Deuel. ²¹ And the Kohathites journeyed onward, carrying the sanctuary, and they erected the tabernacle when they arrived. ²² And the banner of the camp of the Ephraimites journeyed onward by their armies, and in charge of this army was Elishama ben Ammihud. ²³ And in charge of the army of the tribe of the Manassites was Gamaliel^[55] ben Pedah-zur. ²⁴ And in charge of the army of the Benjamites was Abidan ben Gideoni.

²⁵ And the banner of the camp of the Danites journeyed forward, as the rear guard for all the army camps, and over this army was Ahiezer ben Ammishaddai. ²⁶ And over the army of the tribe of Asherites was Pagiel ben Ocran. ²⁷ And over the army of the tribe of the Naphtalites was Ahira ben Enan.

²⁸ This is how the Israelites journeyed by their armies whenever they continued their journey.

²⁹ Then Moses said to Hobab ben Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will treat you well, because Yahweh has spoken good things concerning Israel."

³⁰ And he said to him, "I will not go, but I will go to my own land, and my own relatives."

³¹ He said, "Please, do not abandon us, because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you could look out for us. ³² Then, if you go with us, whatever good things Yahweh sees fit to bless us with, we will share with you." ³³ Then they left the Mountain of Yahweh for three days' journey, and the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh went in front of them for three days' journey, to find them a place to rest. ³⁴ And Yahweh's cloud was over them by day, when they journeyed from the campsite.

³⁵ And so it was, that whenever the Ark would continue its journey, that Moses would say, "Arise, Yahweh! Let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee from you." ³⁶ And when it rested, he would say, "Return, O Yahweh, to the many thousands^[56] of Israel."

Chapter 11

¹ And it happened that the people complained, and it displeased Yahweh.^[57] When Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled, and a fire from Yahweh burned among them, and consumed along the edge of the encampment. ² The people cried out to Moses, so Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire was put out. ³ So he called the name of that place Taberah,^[58] because Yahweh's fire burned among them.

⁴ The rabble^[59] who were among them were filled with a craving, and the Israelites also wept again, and they said, "Who will give us meat to eat?" ⁵ We remember the fish which we would eat in Egypt for free, and the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ Now now our appetites^[60] are dried up; we have nothing but manna.

⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.^{[61] 8} The people would venture out and collect it, and grind it on a hand-mill, or pound it with a mortar and boil it in a pot, and make it into cakes, and it would taste like an oil-dainty.^{[62] 9} And when the dew would distill upon the camp at night, the manna would come down upon it.

¹⁰ And Moses heard all the clans of the people weeping at the entrance to his tent, and Yahweh was very angry, and Moses was displeased. ¹¹ And Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? And why are you so pitiless with me^[63] as to set the burden of this entire people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all this nation? Did I give birth to them, that you say to me, 'Carry them in your arms,^[64] as a parent carries a nursing infant, to the land which was sworn to their ancestors'? ¹³ Where will I get meat to give all this nation, when they keep wailing at me, 'Give us meat to eat!'? ¹⁴ I cannot carry all this nation alone. Please, if you care for me at all, kill me and put me out of my misery. ¹⁵ And if this is how you will treat me, please kill me, if you care for me, and put me out of my misery."

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, "I will gather for myself seventy men from among the elders of Israel, who are knowledgeable, because they are elders of the people, and its officers. Take them to the Tent of Meeting, and have them stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will descend, and I will speak with you there. And I will take some of the spirit which is upon you, and I will place it upon them. They will join you in carrying the burden of the people, and you will no longer carry it alone. ¹⁸ Then say to this people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow. You will eat flesh, because your crying has reached the ears of Yahweh, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat. It was good for us in Egypt." Yahweh will give you meat, and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will not eat it one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days. ²⁰ For a whole month,^[65] until it comes out your nose, until it disgusts you, because you have rejected Yahweh, who is in your midst, and wailed before him, saying, "Why did we leave Egypt?"'"

²¹ And Moses said, "This people around me has six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat for a whole month!' ²² What if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them — would [enough] be found for them? If all the fish in the sea were gathered for them — would [enough] be found for them?"

²³ Yahweh said to Moses, "Is Yahweh's arm^[66] short? Now you will see whether or not what I have said will happen."

²⁴ Moses went out and told the people what Yahweh said. And he gathered seventy men from among the elders of the people, and he stationed them around the tent. ²⁵ Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him. And he took some of the spirit which was upon him, and set it upon the seventy elders. When the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied,^[67] but never did so again. ²⁶ But two men were still in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And when the spirit rested upon them — now they were among those listed [as elders], but they had not gone out to the Tent — they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses, and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

²⁸ And Joshua bin^[68] Nun, who had been Moses' attendant from his youth, replied, "My lord Moses, stop them!"

²⁹ Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Oh, that it might be granted that all the people of Yahweh should be prophets! Yahweh has given his spirit upon them." ³⁰ Then Moses returned to the camp with the elders of Israel.

³¹ Then a wind came from Yahweh and blew quails in from the sea, and dropped them on the camp, about a day's journey this way, and a day's journey that way, surrounding the camp, and about two cubits^[69] above the ground. ³² The people rose up all that day, and all that night, and all the next, and gathered the quail. He who gathered least, gathered ten homers,^[70] and they spread them out for themselves around the camp. ³³ As the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed,^[71] the anger of Yahweh burned hot among the people, and Yahweh killed some of the people, a very great slaughter. ³⁴ And the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah,^[72] because there the people who had a craving were buried. ³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah, the people continued their journey until they arrived at Hazzeroth.

Chapter 12

¹ Now Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Kushite^[73] woman that he had taken as his wife, because he had taken a Kushite woman. ² And they said, "Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken by us?" And Yahweh heard it. ³ Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than all people on the face of the earth.

⁴ And immediately Yahweh spoke to Moses, and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting." So the three of them came out. ⁵ And Yahweh came down in a column of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called for Aaron and Miriam. The two of them came forward.

⁶ And he said, "Listen, now, to what I say. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will reveal myself to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. ⁷ Not so with my servant Moses, who among all my household is faithful. ⁸ Mouth to mouth I speak to him, and appear, and not in riddles. He looks at Yahweh's form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

⁹ And the anger of Yahweh burned hot against them, and he left. ¹⁰ As the cloud left from above the Tent of Meeting, there was Miriam, afflicted with tzaarath,^[74] like snow. And Aaron saw that Miriam was afflicted with tzaarath.

¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, "Please, my lord, please do not punish us for this sin which we have done foolishly and sinned. ¹² Please do not let her be like a dead person, who is born from his mother's womb with half his flesh consumed."

¹³ And Moses cried out to Yahweh, "Please, God,^[75] please heal her!"

¹⁴ Yahweh said to Moses, "Now if her father had spit in her face, would she not disgraced for seven days? Exclude her for seven days outside the camp, and after that accept her." ¹⁵ So Miriam was excluded outside the camp seven days, and the people did not continue their journey until Miriam was accepted. ¹⁶ And afterward the people continued their journey from Hazeroth, and settled in the wilderness of Paran.

Chapter 13

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, and said, ² "Send men to scout^[76] out the land of Canaan, which I am about to give to the Israelites, one man descended from each tribe,^[77] every one a leader among them."

³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, as Yahweh directed. All of these men were leaders of the Israelites. ⁴ And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;^{[78] 5}of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori; ⁶of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ⁷of the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph; ⁸of the tribe of Ephraim, Hosea^[79] bin^[68] Nun; ⁹ of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu; ¹⁰of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi; ¹¹of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi son of Susi; ¹²of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli; ¹³of the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael; ¹⁴of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi; ¹⁵of the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.^{[80] 16}These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to scout out the land. And Moses gave the name Joshua^[81] to Hoshea bin Nun.

¹⁷ Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up into the Negev,^[82] then go up to the hill country. ¹⁸ See how the land is, and the people who live there, whether they are strong or weak, few or numerous; ¹⁹ and how the land is where they live, whether it is good or bad; and what sort of cities they live in, whether in tents or in fortresses; ²⁰ and what kind of land it is, whether it is fertile or barren; whether it has woods, or not. Be courageous, and bring some of the produce of the land. (Now it was the time of the year when the first grapes ripened.)^[83]

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land, from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, as one goes toward Hamath. ²² They went up into the Negev, and came^[84] to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of the Anak, were. Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.^[85]

²³ They came as far as valley of Eshcol, and they cut down from there a branch with one cluster^[86] of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them, along with some of the pomegranates, and some of the figs. ²⁴ The place was called the valley of Eshcol, on account of the cluster^[87] of grapes which the Israelites cut down from there. ²⁵ And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.

²⁶ They went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the assembly of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them, and to all the assembly, and showed them the produce of the land. ²⁷ They told them, "We came to the land where you sent us, and it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ²⁸ However, the people are strong who live in that land, and the cities are fortified and very large, and also, we saw the children of the Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev-land; and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill-country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and by the Jordan."

³⁰ And Caleb silenced the people [speaking] to Moses, and said, "We should go up and conquer it, because we are able to defeat it."

³¹ But the men who went up with him said, "We cannot go up against that people, because they are stronger than us." ³² They gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land which they had scouted out, and said, "The land which we went through to scout is a land which devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are men of great stature. ³³ We saw Nephilim there (Anakites [who descend] from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers to ourselves, and to them."

Chapter 14

¹ Then the whole assembly wailed loudly,^[88] and the people wept that night. ² All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why has Yahweh brought us to this land, to die by the sword? Or wives and our children will be taken as loot! Wouldn't it have been better for us to return to Egypt?" ⁴ They said to one another, "Let's choose a leader and return to Egypt."

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell face to the ground in front of the whole assembled congregation of Israelites.

⁶ And Joshua bin^[68] Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes. ⁷ And they said to all the congregation of Israelites, "The land which we passed through scouting is a wonderful^[89] land. ⁸ If Yahweh shows us favor, we will bring us to this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁹ But do not rebel against Yahweh, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will conquer them easily.^[90] They have lost to ability to defend themselves.^[91] Yahweh is with us; do not be afraid of them.

¹⁰ When the whole congregation began to speak about stoning them with stones, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "How long will this people continue to treat me with contempt? How long will they not trust me, despite all the signs which I did among them? ¹² I will strike them with a plague, and disinherit them, and I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they are."

¹³ Moses said to Yahweh, "Then Egypt will hear, because you brought up this people with your power from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are among this people, to whom you have appeared face to face,^[92] and that your cloud stands over them, that you go before them by day in a column of cloud, by night in a fire. ¹⁵ Now if you kill all this people like a single man, then the nations who have heard of your reputation will say, ¹⁶ 'Because Yahweh was unable to bring this people to the land which he swore to them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' ¹⁷ And now, please, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, ¹⁸ 'Yahweh is slow to anger, great in faithfulness, forgiving sin and rebellion. But by no means does he treat [the guilty] as innocent; he punishes children for the sin of their fathers, to the third and fourth [generations].' ¹⁹ Please pardon the sin of this people by your great faithfulness, and just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now."

²⁰ Yahweh said,"I have forgiven them, because of what you said. ²¹ Nevertheless, I swear on my life -- and the glory of Yahweh fills the whole earth -- ²² that all the men who have seen glory, and my signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me now these ten times,^[93] and have not listened to my voice, ²³ will surely not see the land which I swore to their ancestors. None of those who treated me with contempt will see it. ²⁴ But as for my servent Caleb, on account of his having a different attitude,^[94] as he has followed me wholly, I will bring him to the land where he went, and his descendants will inherit it." ²⁵ (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valley.) "Tomorrow turn and continue your journey into the wilderness by way of the Red Sea."

²⁶ Yahweh spoke with to Moses and Aaron,

²⁷ How long [will I endure] this awful congregation, as they complain about me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, who complain about me. ²⁸ Say to them,

I swear on my life, declares Yahweh, that just as you said to me I will do. ²⁹ Your corpses will fall in this wilderness, and all of you who were counted in the census, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained about me. ³⁰ You will not enter this land where I swore^[95] to settle you, except for Caleb ben Jephunneh and Joshua bin Nun. ³¹ But your little ones, who you said would be taken as loot, I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you rejected. ³² But you, your corpses, will fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your children will be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and will endure your whoring, until your corpses are finished off in the wilderness. ³⁴ Just as the number of days you scouted out the land, forty days, each day will become a year that you will bear the consequences of your wrongdoing, forty years, and you will know my opposition.^[96]

³⁵ I, Yahweh, have said, "I swear to do this to all this wicked congregation who are gathered against me. In this wilderness they will be finished off; they will die here."

³⁶ And the men whom Moses sent to scout out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him, bringing up a negative report about the land, ³⁷ those men who brought the negative report about the land will die by divine execution before Yahweh. ³⁸ But Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to scout out the land, will live.

³⁹ Moses told these things words to all the Israelites, and the people wept bitterly. ⁴⁰ They rose at dawn, and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, "We are here. We will go up to the place which Yahweh promised, because we have sinned."

⁴¹ Moses said, "Why now do you disobey Yahweh's instruction? This will not succeed. ⁴² Do not go up, because Yahweh is not among you, or you will be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³ The Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from Yahweh. Yahweh will not be with you."

⁴⁴ But they arrogantly decided to go up to the top of the mountain. But the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, did not leave the camp. ⁴⁵ And the Amalekites and the Canaanites came down, who lived on the mountain, and attacked them, and crushed them, as far as Hormah.

Chapter 15

¹ Yahweh said to Moses,

² Speak to the Israelites, and tell them: When you come to the land where you are to live, which I will give to you, ³ and you make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice to fulfil a vow, or as a freewill offering, or with your solemn feasts, to make a soothing scent for Yahweh from the herd or from the flock, ⁴ then the one who presents his gift to Yahweh is to be an offering of fine flour, a tenth of an ephah,^[97] mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil.^{[98] 5} And you are to prepare a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink-offering to accompany the burnt offering of sacrifice of one lamb. ⁶ Or for a ram, you are to prepare as a meal-offering two tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a third of a hin of oil. ⁷ And you are to offer as wine for a drink offering a third of a hin, a soothing scent for Yahweh. ⁸ And when you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow, or peace-offerings for Yahweh, ⁹ then he is to offer with the young bull a meal-offering of fine flour, three tenths of an ephah mixed with half a hin of oil. ¹⁰ And you are to offer win as a drink-offering, half of a hin, a sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh.

¹¹ That is what is to be done for one bull, or for one ram, or for one lamb, or for one kid. ¹² However many you prepare, you are to before for each one, however many.

¹³ All who are native-born are to do these things in this way, to present an sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh. ¹⁴ And if a proselyte lives among you, or whoever is among you throughout your generations, and they bring a sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh. Just as you do, so he is to do. ¹⁵ There is one rule for the assembly, for you and for the proselyte living among you, a perpetual rule throughout your generations. Just as you are, so the proselyte will be before Yahweh. ¹⁶ One law and one custom will be for you and for the proselyte living among you.

¹⁷ And Yahweh said to Moses,

¹⁸Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you come to the land which I will give you, ¹⁹ and when you eat the bread of that land, you are to offer a wave-offering to Yahweh. ²⁰ The first of your ground meal, a perforated cake, you are to offer as a wave-offering, like a wave-offering of the threshing-flood, so you are to wave it. ²¹ Of the first of your ground meal you are to give it to Yahweh as a wave-offering, throughout your generations.

²² And if you fail unintentionally to keep all these commands which Yahweh spoke to Moses, ²³ everything that Yahweh commanded you through Moses, from the day that Yahweh gave the command and afterward throughout your generations, ²⁴ then, if anything is done unintentionally without the congregation knowing, all the congregaton will give one young bull as a burnt offering, as a soothing scent for Yahweh, with its meal-offering and its drink-offering, according to the custom, and one young goat as a sin-offering. ²⁵ And the priest will make atonment for all the congregation of the Israelites, and it will be forgiven them, because it is unwitting, and they will bring their offering by fire to Yahweh, and their sin-offering before Yahweh, for their mistake. ²⁶ And all the congregation of the Israelites will be forgiven, and the resident alien who lives among them, because all the people did it unwittingly.

²⁷ And if one person sins unintentionally, then will is to bring a female goat a year old as a sin-offering. ²⁸ And the priest will make atonement for the person acts unintentionally, who sins unintentionally before Yahweh, to make atonement for him. And he will be forgiven. ²⁹ You are to have one law when you act unintentionally, both the native-born among the Israelites and the resident alien who lives among you.

³⁰ But the person who acts arrogantly, whether native-born or a resident alien, treats Yahweh with contempt, and that person will be cut off^[99] from his people, ³¹ because he has scorned Yahweh's instruction, and has violated his commandment. That person will be cut off; he deserves his punishment.

³² And while the Israelites were in the wilderness, they discovered a man gathering collecting wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who discovered him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ And they held him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.

³⁵ And Yahweh said to Moses, "This man is to be put to death. All the congregation is to stone him with stones outside the camp." ³⁶ And all the congregation brought him outside the camp, and stone him with stones, and he died, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁷ And Yahweh said to Moses,

³⁸ Speak to the Israelites, and tell them to make themselves fringes on the edges of their clothes throughout their generations, and to put on the fringes on the edge a blue cord. ³⁹ This fringe will serve so that when you look at it, you will remember all Yahweh's commands and observe them, and so that you will not follow your own mind and your own view, which you used to go whoring after. ⁴⁰ Therefore you will remember, and observe all my commands, and be holy to your god. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your god, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your god. I, Yahweh, am your god.

Chapter 16

¹ Now Korah son of^[100] Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took [people] ² and they stood before Moses, with some of the Israelites,^[101] two hundred fifty leaders of the congregation, well-known among the congregation, men with reputations, ³ and they gathered together against Moses, and against Aaron, and said to them, "Enough with you! All the congregation, all of them, are holy, and Yahweh is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh's assembly?"

⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell face down. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his congregation, "Tomorrow Yahweh will show who is his, and he will allow who is holy to come near him. He will let the one he has chosen come near him. ⁶ Do this. Take yourselves fire-pans, Korah and all his congregation, ⁷ and put hot coals^[102] in them, and put incense in them before Yahweh tomorrow. Then, the man whom Yahweh chooses will be holy. Enough with you, Levites!"^[103]

⁸ And Moses said to Korah, "Listen now, sons of Levi. ⁹ Is it a small thing for you that the god of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near himself to carry out the service of Yahweh's tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has brought you near to him, and all your brothers, the Levites.^[104] Would you seek the priesthood as well? ¹¹ This is why you and your congregation are meeting here against Yahweh. And Aaron, what is he, that you complain against him?"

¹² And Moses sent word to summon Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. They said, "We will not come up. ¹³ Is it a small thing that you have brought us up from a land flowing with milk and honey^[105], to kill us in the wilderness, that you also appoint yourself as a prince over us? ¹⁴ Furthermore, you have not brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you make these men blind?^[106] We will not come up."

¹⁵ Moses became very angry, and said to Yahweh, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken [even] a single donkey from them, or harmed a single one of them."

¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, "You, and all your congregation, come before Yahweh, they and Aaron, tomorrow. ¹⁷ Let every man take his fire-pan, and put incense in them, and let each man bring his fire-pan before Yahweh, two hundred fifty fire-pans: you and Aaron, each one with his fire-pan."

¹⁸ So each one of them took his fire-pan, and set a fire in it, and placed incense on them, and stood in the door of the Tent of meeting along with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ And Korah gathered all the congregation to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the congregation.

²⁰ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ "Separate yourselves from this congregation, and I will consume them in a moment."

²² Then they fell face down, and said, "El,^[107] god of the spirits of all flesh, will you be enraged with the whole congregation because of one man sinning?"

²³ And Yahweh said to Moses, ²⁴ "Tell the congregation, 'Get up from around the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"

²⁵ Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ He said to the congregation, "Please, turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be devoured because of all their sins." ²⁷ So they got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, from around them, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents, with their wives, and their children, and their little ones.

²⁸ Moses said, "This is how you will known that Yahweh has sent me to do all these deeds, and not myself alone.^{[108] 29} If these people die a natural death, the way other people die, Yahweh has not sent me. ³⁰ But if Yahweh creates something new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive to the netherworld, then you will known that treated Yahweh with contempt."

³¹ Then, as he finished saying all these things, the ground broke open beneath them, ³² and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, and their houses, and all the people who belonged to Korah, and all their property. ³³ They and all who belonged to them went down alive to the netherworld, and the earth closed up on them, and they perished from the congregation. ³⁴ And all Israel who were around them fled from their cries, because they thought, "The earth may swallow us."

³⁵ And a fire came out from Yahweh and consumed the two hundred fifty men who offered incense.

^{36(17:1)[109]} Yahweh said to Moses, ³⁷⁽²⁾ "Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the fire-pans from the burning, and scatter the fire a ways off, because they are holy. ³⁸⁽³⁾ As for the fire-pans of these people who died for their sins, make them into hammered sheets as a covering for the altar, because they presented them in front of Yahweh, so they are holy, to be a sign for the Israelites. ³⁹⁽⁴⁾ So Eleazar the priest took the brass fire-pans, which the people who were burned had offered, and they hammered them into a covering for the altar, ⁴⁰⁽⁵⁾ as a memorial for the Israelites, so that no outsider, who is not of the lineage of Aaron, would approach to burn incense before Yahweh, so that he would not become like Korah, and like his congregation, as Yahweh said through Moses.

⁴¹⁽⁶⁾ But the next day all the congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of Yahweh." ⁴²⁽⁷⁾ Then, as the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting, and saw that the cloud covered it, and Yahweh's glory appeared. ⁴³⁽⁸⁾ And Moses and Aaron came before the Tent of Meeting.

⁴⁴⁽⁹⁾ Then Yahweh said to Moses, ⁴⁵⁽¹⁰⁾ "Get up out of this congregation, and I will consume them in a moment!" And they fell on their faces.

⁴⁶⁽¹¹⁾ And Moses said to Aaron, "Take the fire-pan, and put fire on it from upon the altar, and put on incense, and hurry to the congregation, and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from before Yahweh: the plague has begun." ⁴⁷⁽¹²⁾ Aaron took it as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly, just as the plague had begun among the people, and he put on incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸⁽¹³⁾ He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped. ⁴⁹⁽¹⁴⁾ Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the matter concerning Korah. ⁵⁰⁽¹⁵⁾ Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and the plague stopped.

Chapter 17

^1(16)[110] Yahweh said to Moses,

²⁽¹⁷⁾ Speak to the Israelites, and take a staff^[111] from each ancestral house,^[112] from all the leaders of the ancestral houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff. ³⁽¹⁸⁾ And write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi, because one staff will represent their ancestral house. ⁴⁽¹⁹⁾ Leave them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony,^[113] where I will meet with you. ⁵⁽²⁰⁾ Then it will happen, that the man whom I have chosen, his staff will produce buds. Thus I will rid myself of the Israelites' complaints which they bring against you.

⁶⁽²¹⁾ So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one staff for each leader, representing to their ancestral house, twelve staffs. And the Aaron's staff was among their staffs. ⁷⁽²²⁾ And Moses set the staffs in front of Yahweh, in the Tent of Meeting. ⁸⁽²³⁾ When the next day came, Moses went to the Tent of the Testimony,^[114] and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the family of Levi, had budded: it had sent out buds, and produced flowers, and yielded ripe almonds. ⁹⁽²⁴⁾ And Moses brought out all the staffs from before Yahweh to all the Israelites, and they looked, and each man took his staff.

¹⁰⁽²⁵⁾ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's staff before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against rebellious people.^[115] Thus you will rid me of their complaints, so that they do not die." ¹¹⁽²⁶⁾ And Moses did. He did just as Yahweh commanded him.

¹²⁽²⁷⁾ And the Israelites said to Moses, "Surely, we will die; we will be destroyed; we will all be destroyed. ¹³⁽²⁸⁾ Whoever even approaches the tabernacle of Yahweh will die. Are we all going to die?"

Chapter 18

¹ Yahweh said to Aaron,

You, and your sons, and your father's house with you will bear the responsibility^[116] for the sanctuary, and you and your sons will bear the responsibility of your priesthood. ² And also bring with you your relatives of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe,^[117] that they may work alongside you and serve as your attendants. But you and your sons with you [will serve] before the Tent of Testimony.^{[118] 3} They will perform duties for you, and duties for the Tent, except that they are not to approach the holy objects and the altar, or else they, as well as you, may die. ⁴ They will work closely with you, and perform the duties of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent, and no outsider may approach you. ⁵ You are to carry out the duties of the sanctuary, and the duties of the altar, so that no wrath may come upon the Israelites again. ⁶ And as for me, I have taken your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites. They are given as a gift to you for Yahweh, to carry out the service of the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ And you and your sons will carry out the duties of your priestly position for everything concerning the altar, and inside the curtain, and you will serve. As a service of gift^[119] I give you your priesthood, and any outsider who approaches will be put to death.

⁸ Yahweh spoke to Aaron:

See, I have given you the duties of my wave-offerings of all the Israelites' consecrated things; to you I have given them by anointing, and to your sons as an everlasting rule. ⁹ This will be yours from the holiest things from the fire: every one of their gifts, every one of their meal-offerings, every one of their sin-offerings, and every trespass offering which they bring to me. It will be most holy for you and for your sons. ¹⁰ You shall eat it in a most holy place:^[120] every male will eat it; it will be holy for you. ¹¹ And this is yours: the heave-offering of their gift, of all the wave-offerings of the Israelites. I have given them to you and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a perpetual rule. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it. ¹² All the best of oil, and all the best of wine, and wheat, the first of them which they will offer to Yahweh, I have given to you. ¹³ What ripens first of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, will be yours. Everyone who is ritually pure in your house may eat it. ¹⁴ Every devoted^[121] thing in Israel will be yours. ¹⁵ Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, which they will bring to Yahweh, whether human or livestock, will be yours. However, you must redeem^[122] a human firstborn, and the firstborn of forbidden^[123] animals you must redeem. ¹⁶ Those of them that are redeemed, from a month old you are to redeem them, as you asses, five shekels^[124] of silver, by the measure of the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.^{[125] 17} But the firstborn of cattle, or the first born of sheep, or the firstborn of goats you are not to redeem. They are holy. You will sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat in fire, as a soothing scent for Yahweh. ¹⁸ Their meat will be yours, just as the waved breast and the right shoulder are yours.

¹⁹ All the consecrated heave-offerings, which the Israelites raise to Yahweh, I have given to you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as an everlasting rule, an everlasting covenant of salt^[126] before Yahweh for you and for your descendants with you.

²⁰ And Yahweh said to Aaron,

You will have no inheritance in their land. You will have no portion among them: I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites. ²¹ And indeed, to the Levites I have given all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance, a portion for their service with which they perform, the service of the Tent of Meeting. ²² And no longer are the Israelites to approach the Tent of Meeting, so that they may not bear sin and die. ²³ But the Levites are to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they will bear the responsibility. It will be an everlasting rule throughout your generations, that among the Israelites they have no inheritance, ²⁴ because the tithes of the Israelites, which they raise to Yahweh as a heave-offering, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. That is why I said to them that among the Israelites they have no inheritance.

²⁵ And Yahweh said to Moses,

Speak to the Levites, and say to them,

²⁶ When you receive from the Israelites the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, you are to raise up from it a heave-offering to Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷ Your heave offering will be measured out to you, like grain from the threshing-floor, or like new wine from the vat. ²⁸ In this way you yourselves will offer a heave-offering to Yahweh, and you will give from it Yahweh's heave-offering to Aaron the priest.^{[127] 29} From all your gifts you are to offer every heave-offering of Yahweh, from all the best of it, the holy part of it.

³⁰You are to say to them,

When you have heaved the best of it, it is to be counted to the Levites like the increase of a threshing-floor, or as the increase of a winepress. ³¹ You may eat of it anywhere, you and your households, because it is your wages in exchange for your service in the Tent of Meeting. ³² You will not bear the responsibility for any sin, if you have offered the best of it as a heave-offering. You must not pollute the holy things of the Israelites, or else you die.

Chapter 19

¹ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron,

² This is the ordinance of the law which Yahweh commanded: Tell^[128] the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red^[129] heifer with no defects, and upon which no yoke has been. ³ You are to bring it to Eleazar the priest, and he will bring her outside the camp, and it is to be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ Eleazar the priest will take some of its blood on his finger, and will sprinkle some of its blood in front of the Tent of Meeting seven times. ⁵ And the heifer is to be burned as he watches: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal are to be burned. ⁶ And the priest will take cedar wood, and hyssop,^[130] and scarlet thread, and toss it into the middle of the fire with the heifer.^{[131] 7} Then the priest will wash his clothes, and wash his flesh in water, and afterward he will come into the camp, and the priest will be unclean till evening. ⁸ And the person who burned it will wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁹ And a man who is ritually pure will gather the ashes of the heifer, and set them outside the camp in a ritually pure place, and it will be kept for the congregation of the Israelites to produce water for impurity; it is a sin-offering. ¹⁰ And the one who gathered the heifer's ashes will wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. This will be, for the Israelites and for the resident alien who sojourns among them, an everlasting regulation.

¹¹ Whoever touches the dead, any human corpse, will be unclean seven days. ¹² He will purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he will be pure,^[132] but if he does not purify himself the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be pure. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead body, of any human being who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh. That person will be cut off from Israel, because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him. He will be impure; his impurity is still on him.

¹⁴ This is the law for when a human being dies in a tent. All who come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, will be impure seven days. ¹⁵ And every open vessel, which has no lid fastened to it,^[133] is unclean. ¹⁶ And whoever out in the field touches someone slain with the sword, or person who died a natural death, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.

¹⁷ And for the unclean person they will take some of the ashes of the burnt sin-offering, and running water will be put onto it in, ¹⁸ and a ritually pure man will take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and on the objects, and on the people who were there, or on the person who touches a bone, or a person who was killed, or a person who died of natural causes, or a grave. ¹⁹ And the pure person will sprinkle it on the impure person on the third day and the seventh day, and on the seventh day he will purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be pure at evening.

²⁰ But a man who is impure and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the congregation, because he has defiled the Yahweh's sanctuary. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. ²¹ The will be a perpetual statute for them: the one who sprinkles the water for impurity will wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for impurity will be impure until the evening. ²² And anything that the impure person touches will be impure, and whatever person touches it will be unclean till evening.

Chapter 20

¹ Then the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to the Zin Wilderness^[134] in the first month, and the people settled in Kadesh,^[135] and there Miriam died, and there she was buried.

² And there was no water for the congregation, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. ³ And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "If only we perished when our brothers perished before Yahweh! ⁴ And why have you brought Yahweh's assembly to this wilderness, to die here, we and our animals? ⁵ And why have you brought us up from Egypt, to bring us to this awful place? It is not a place for grain,^[136] or figs, or vines, pomegranates -- and there is no water to drink!" ⁶ And Moses went with Aaron from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and they fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them.

⁷ And Yahweh said to Moses, ⁸ "Take the staff, and gather the congregation together, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock in front of them, and it will give you its water, and you will bring out to them the water from the rock, and you will give water to the congregation and their animals." ⁹ And Moses took the rod from in front of Yahweh, just as he commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the whole assembly in front of the rock, and said to them, "Listen up, rebels! Must we get you water from this rock?" ¹¹ And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock with his rod two times, and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

¹² And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust me, to sanctify me in the view of the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this assembly to the land which I have given them."

¹³ This the water of Meribah,^[137] because the children of Israel quarreled with Yahweh, and he was sanctified among them.

¹⁴ And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom.^[138] "Your brother Israel says to you: You know all the hardship that has found us, ¹⁵ how our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians mistreated us ourselves and our ancestors. ¹⁶ We cried out to Yahweh, and he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt, and here we are: at Kadesh, a city at the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please, let us pass through your land. We will not cross through your fields, or vineyards, and we will not drink water from your wells. We will go along the king's highway. We will not turn off the right or to the left, until we have passed through your territory."

¹⁸ Edom said to him, "Do not pass through me, or I will come out to meet you armed."

¹⁹ And the Israelites said to him, "We will go along the highway, and if I and my livestock drink your water, I will pay for it. I will only cross through on foot -- nothing else."

²⁰ And he said, "You will not cross through." Then Edom came out to meet them with a heavy army and strong force. ²¹ So Edom refused to let Israel cross through its territory, and Israel turned away from him.

²² They continued their journey from Kadesh, and the Israelites, the whole congregation, came to Hor the mountain.^[139]

²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron at Hor the mountain, by the border of the land of Edom: ²⁴ "Aaron will pass away, because he may not enter the land which I have given the Israelites, because you rebelled against my instructions at the water of Meribah.^{[140] 25} Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Hor the mountain. ²⁶ Remove Aaron's garments, and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron will be pass away^[141] and die there. ²⁷ Moses did as Yahweh commanded, and they went up to Hor the mountain as all the congregation watched.^{[142] 28} And Moses removed Aaron's garments, and put them on Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the household of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

Chapter 21

¹ When the Canaanite king of Arad^[143] living in the Negev,^[144] heard that Israel was coming along the Way of Atharim, he waged war against Israel and took some of them captive. ² And Israel made a vow to Yahweh, and said, "If you will deliver this people into my hand, I will utterly exterminate their cities."^{[145] 3} Yahweh heard the voice of Israel, and gave them the Canaanites, and they utterly exterminated them and their cities. So the place was called Hormah.^[146]

⁴ They continued their journey from Hor the mountain^[139] along the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom.^[147] And the people were agitated on the way. ⁵ Then the people spoke against God, and against Moses. "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, and there is no water, and we are tired of this worthless bread.^{[148] 6} So Yahweh sent venomous serpents^[149] among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the Israelites died.

⁷ Then the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, because we spoke against Yahweh and against you. Pray for us to Yahweh, that he will take away the serpents from us." And Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Make yourself a venomous [serpent], and put it on a pole. And then, when anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent,^[150] and put it on the pole. Then, if a serpent bit anyone, and he looked up at the bronze serpent, would live."

¹⁰ Then the Israelites continued their journey, and encamped at Oboth.^{[151] 11} They continued their journey from Oboth, and encamped at Iye Abarim,^[152] in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east. ¹² From there they continued their journey, and encamped in the wadi Zered.^{[153] 13} From there they continued their journey, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness who comes out from the territory of the Amorites, because Arnon is on the Moabite border, between Moab and the Amorites.^{[154] 14} Therefore it says, in the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, "Waheb in Suphah, and the wadis of Arnon,^{[155] 15} and Eshed of the wadis, which extends to the settlement of Ar, and lies on the border of Moab.^[156]

¹⁶ And from there [they went to] a well, that is, the well where Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water." ¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song:

Spring up, O well! Sing to it!
¹⁸ Well which the nobles dug,
delved by the nobles of the people,
by the sceptre, by their staves.

And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah,^{[157] 19} and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth,^{[158] 20} and from Bamoth in the valley which is in the territory of Moab [they went to] the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the Jeshimon.

²¹ And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ²² "Let me pass through your land. We will not go into the fields, or the vineyards. We will not drink well water. We will go along the king's highway, until we have passed through your territory." ²³ But Sihon would not let the Israelites pass through his territory. Sihon gathered together all his army, and they went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from Arnon to Jabbok, as far as the [border of] the Ammonites, because the Ammonite border was well-defended. ²⁵ And Israel took these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and all its associated villages, ²⁶ because Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land from his control as far as Arnon.

²⁷ That is why those who tell proverbs say, "Come to Heshbon; let the city of Heshbon be built and established, ²⁸ because a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a flame from Sihon's town. It has consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the shrines of Arnon. ²⁹ Woe to you, Moab! You are destroyed, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons who have escaped, and his daughters, into captivity to the king of the Amorites, Sihon. ³⁰ We have shot arrows at them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon, and we have plundered them as far as Nophach, which reaches to Medeba."

³¹ So Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. ³² And Moses sent out spies to Jaazer, and they seized its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³ And they turned and went up by the Way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his army, for battle at Edrei. ³⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Do not be afraid of him, because I have placed him under your control, and all his people and his land, and you will do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." ³⁵ So they attacked him, and his sons, and all his people, until no one was left surviving, and they possessed his land.

Chapter 22

¹ The Israelites continued their journey, and encamped in the deserts of Moab in Transjordan across from Jericho.

² And Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite. ³ And Moab was very afraid of them, because they were numerous, and Moab was agitated over the Israelites. ⁴ And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now this assembly will lick up everything around us, like an ox licks up grass in the field." Now Balak the son of Zippor was the king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the river of his people's land, to call him and say, "Look: a people has come up from Egypt. Look: they are covering the face of the land, and they are living across from me. ⁶ Now please come; curse this people for me, because they are to strong for me. Maybe I will prevail, and we will defeat them, and I will drive them out of the land, because I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed.

⁷ And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went with [the fees for] divination in their hand, and they came to Balaam and told him what Balak said.

⁸ And he said to them, "Stay the night here, and I will let you know what Yahweh tells me." So the nobles of Moab stayed with Balaam.

⁹ And God came to Balaam, and said, "Who are these men with you?"

¹⁰ And Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me, ¹¹ 'See, this people has come out of Egypt, who cover the face of the earth. Now come and execrate them for me. Maybe I will be able to make war against them and drive them out.'"

¹² God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. Do not curse this people, because they are blessed."

¹³ Balaam rose up in the morning and said to Balak's nobles, "Go back to your land, because Yahweh refuses to let me go with you."

¹⁴ So the nobles of Moab rose up and went to Balak, and said, "Balaam refuses to come with us."

¹⁵ And again Balak sent nobles, more and more respected than these. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam, and said to him, "This is was Balak son of Zippor says. Please let nothing stop from coming to me, ¹⁷ because I will promote you to a very respectable position, and I will do whatever you ask of me. So please come and execrate this people for me."

¹⁸ Balaam replied and said to the ministers of Balak, "Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot do anything, great or small, beyond what Yahweh allows. ¹⁹ Now, please, you as well, stay tonight, so that I may know what else Yahweh might say to me.

²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, "If the men come to call you, get up and go with them. But only do what I tell you." ²¹ So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his donkey,^[159] and went with the nobles of Moab.

²² And God's anger was aroused because he went, and an angel of Yahweh stood in the road to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and two servants were with him. ²³ Now the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his sword unsheathed, and the donkey turned off the road and went into a field. So Balaam hit the donkey, to turn her toward the road. ²⁴ And the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow spot between vineyards, with a wall on either side. ²⁵ And when the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she squeezed herself against the wall, squeezing Balaam's foot against the wall, and he hit her again. ²⁶ And again the angel of Yahweh went further, and stood in a tight spot, where there was no way to turn right or left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she crouched down under Balaam. Balaam was furious, and hit the donkey with a stick.

²⁸ Then Yahweh opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you? You've hit me these three times!"

²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have made a fool of me! If only there were a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!"

³⁰ And the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey that you have been riding from when I was yours until today? Have I ever done so to you?"

He said, "No."

³¹ Then Yahweh opened Balaam's eyes, and saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road, with his sword drawn in his hand. And he bowed and fell face down. ³² The angel of Yahweh said to him, "Why have you hit your donkey these three times? Indeed, I came out to oppose you, because what you are doing is contrary to me. ³³ But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I would have killed you and let her live."

³⁴ And Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, "I have done wrong, because I did not know that you were standing against me on the road. Now if it you are opposed to it, I will go back."

³⁵ But the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but only say what I tell you to say." So Balaam went with Balak's nobles.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam had arrived, he went out to meet him at a Moabite city which is along the border at Arnon, which was at the edge of the territory. ³⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, "Did I not sent word for you to meet me? Why did you not come to me? Indeed, am I not able to honor you?

³⁸ And Balaam said to Balak, "Here I am. I have come to you. Now do I have the ability to say anything? What God sets in my mouth, I will say. ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balaam, and they came to Kiriath Huzzoth. ⁴⁰ And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep,^[160] and sent for Balaam and the nobles who were with him.

⁴¹ Then, the next day, Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the shrines of Baal, from which he could see the outskirts of the Israelite camp.^[161]

Chapter 23

¹ Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare me seven bulls and seven rams here."

² So Balak did as Balaam said, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram [each] altar. ³ And Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering,^[162] and I will go. Maybe Yahweh will come to meet me. Whatever he shows me, I will report it to you." Then he went to a barren peak.

⁴ And God met Balaam, and he said to him, "I have offered seven altars, and I have made a burnt offering of a bull and a ram on [each] altar."

⁵ And Yahweh put a message in Balaam's mouth, and he said, "Go back to Balak, and tell him as follows: . . . ." ⁶ And went back to him; and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, with all the Moabite nobles.

⁷ And he began his oracle, and said:

From Aram, Balak king of Moab lead me,
from mountains of the east.
"Come, curse Jacob for me;
and come, execrate Israel."
⁸How can I curse whom El^[163] has not cursed?
How can I execrate whom Yahweh has not execrated?
⁹For from the top of rocks I see him
from heights I gaze upon him.
Behold, a people dwelling alone,
not counted among the nations.
¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob,
or a the number of a quarter of Israel?
Let my soul die the death of the upright;
let my future be like his!

¹¹ And Balak said to Balaam, "Why have you done this to me? I took you to curse my enemies, but now you have given them a blessing!"

¹² And he replied, "Must I not say what Yahweh has put in my mouth to say?"

¹³ And Balak said to him, "Please, come with me to another place, from which you can see them. You will only see their outskirts; you will not be able to see them all. Curse them for me from there." ¹⁴ And he brought him to the plain of Zophim, to the top of the Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on [each] altar.

¹⁵ And he said to Balak, "Stay here by the burnt offering, and I will meet [with Yahweh] over there."

¹⁶ And Yahweh met Balaam, and put a message in his mouth, and said, "Go back to Balaam and tell him this: . . . ."

¹⁷ And when he came to him, there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the nobles of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, "What has Yahweh said?"

¹⁸ And he took up his oracle, and said,

Get up, Balak, and listen!
Hearken unto me, son of Zippor!^[164]
19El^[163] is not a man, that he would lie,
nor a human being, changing his mind.
What he has said — will he not do it?
What he has spoken — will he not carry it out?
²⁰Behold: I have received word to bless;
he has blessed,^[165] and I cannot reverse it.
²¹One does not behold misfortune in Jacob;
one does not see trouble in Israel.
Yahweh his god is with him;
among him are shouts in honor of his king.^[166]
22El,^[163] who brought them from Egypt
has the horns^[167] of a wild ox.
²³Yea, there can be no magic against Jacob;
no divinition against Israel.
Of this time they will say of Jacob and Israel,
"What El has done!"
²⁴Behold, a nation like a lioness^[168] arising;
lifting himself up like a lion^[168].
He will not lie down before he has eaten;
he will drink the blood of the slain.

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, "Do not curse them at all, or bless them at all."

²⁶ But Balaam replied to Balak, "Did I not tell you that whatever Yahweh tells me I must do?"

²⁷ And Balak said to Balaam, "Please, come; I will bring you to another place. Maybe it will seem right to God for you to curse them from there." ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of the Peor, which overlooks the Jeshimon. ²⁹ And Balaam said to Balak, "Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams here." ³⁰ And Balak did as Balaam said, and made a burnt offering of a bull and a ram on [each] altar.

Chapter 24

¹ When Balaam saw that it pleased Yahweh to bless Israel, he did not go, as had on previous occasions, to observe omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness. ² Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel dwelling, by their tribes, and the spirit of God came upon him. ³ He took up his oracle, and said

The utterance of Balaam son of Beor,
the utterance of a man whose eyes are closed,^[169]
4the utterance of a man hearing the words of El,^[163]
who has beheld the vision of Shaddai,^[170]
falling, eyes opened.
⁵How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwellings, O Israel!
⁶ As the valleys they are spread out,
like gardens by the rivers,
like aloes Yahweh planted,
like cedars by the water.
⁷He will pour water from his buckets;
his offspring in many waters.
His kingdom will be higher than Agag;^[171]
his kingdom will be exalted.
⁸El^[163] brought him from Egypt;
he has, as it were, the horns^[167] of a wild ox.
He will devour nations, his enemies,
he will gnaw their bones and strike them with arrows.
⁹He crouched, he lay down like a lion;
like a lion, who would rouse him?
Blessed is whomoever blessed you;
cursed is whomever curses you.

¹⁰ Balak was furious with Balaam, and struck his hands together. Balak said to Balaam, "I summoned you to curse my enemies, and yet you have blessed them these three times. ¹¹ Run away to your home! I intended to honor you with great honor, but now Yahweh has kept you from honor."

¹² Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not speak to the messengers that you sent to me, and tell them? ¹³ 'Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the instruction of Yahweh, to do anything good or bad of my own devising. What Yahweh says, I will say.' ¹⁴ And now, certainly, I will go to my people. Come, and I will reveal what this people will do to your people at a later time."

¹⁵And he took up his oracle, and said,

The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
the utterance of a man whose eyes are closed,^[169]
16the utterance of one hearing the words of El,^[163]
knowing the knowledge of Elyon^[172]
who saw the vision of Shaddai,^[170]
falling, eyes closed.^[169]
17I see him, but not now,
I observe him, but not near.
A star will march forth from Jacob;
a sceptre will arise from Israel.
He strikes through the temples of Moab
and destroys all the Sethites.^[173]
18Edom will become a captured,
and Seir will be captured by his enemies,
and Israel will conquer [them].
¹⁹May dominion be exercised by Jacob;
may he destroy the survivors of the city.

²⁰ When he saw Amalek, he took up his oracle and said,

Amalek was first among the nations,
but in the end he will be destroyed.

²¹When he saw the Kenites, he took up his oracle and said,

Your home is secure,
your nest in the rock.^[174]
22But Cain^[175] will be consumed,
until Assyria takes you captive.

²³And he took up his oracle, and said,

Alas! Who can survive when El^[163] ordains this?
²⁴Ships will come from the shores of Kittim,
and they will oppress Assyria,
and they will oppress Eber,
and he also will be destroyed forever.

²⁵And Balaam rose up and returned to his place, and Balak also went on his way.

Chapter 25

¹ Now Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began whoring with Moabite women. ² And the women called the people to the sacrifices of their god,^[176] and the people ate and did homage to their god. ³ And Israel adhered to Baal Peor, and Yahweh became furious with Israel. ⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people, and execute^[177] them for Yahweh in public,^{[178] 5} Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Every one of you, kill his men^[179] who adhered to Baal Peor."

⁶ Now, one of the Israelites came and brought near his fellow [Israelites] a Midianite woman, in full view of Moses, and in full view of the assembled Israelites weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw this, he rose up from the middle of the assembly, and took a spear in his hand. ⁸ And he followed the Israelite man into his tent,^[180] and stabbed through the both of them, the Israelite man, and the woman, into her abdomen. So the plague was stopped from among the Israelites. ⁹ And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰ And Yahweh said to Moses,

¹¹ Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away my anger from upon the Israelites, by his carrying out my jealousy among them, so that I did not finish them off in my jealousy. ¹² Therefore I say, behold, I give him my covenant of peace. ¹³ It will belong to him, and to his offspring after him, a covenant of everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his god, and made atonement for the Israelites.

¹⁴ And the name of the Israelite man who was killed, who was struck through with the Midianite woman, was Zimri ben Salu, a leader of a kin group among the Simeonite. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur. He was the leader of a kin group in Midian.

¹⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses, ¹⁷ "Act as an enemy of the Midianites, and strike them down, ¹⁸ because they act as your enemy with their crafty plan, which they devised against you in the Peor affair, and in the affair concerning Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite noble, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague because of the Peor affair.

Chapter 26

^{1(25:19 or 26:1)}And it happened after the plague ^(1)(2)[181] that Yahweh said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, ²⁽³⁾"Take a headcount of all the congregation of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their lineages, all Israelites fit for military service."

³⁽⁴⁾So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to them in the deserts of Moab by the Jordan [near] Jericho, saying, ⁴⁽⁵⁾"From twenty years old and upward, as Yahweh commanded Moses and the Israelites who came out from the land of Egypt."

⁵⁽⁶⁾Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel. The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, the Hanochite clan; Pallu, the Palluite clan; ⁶⁽⁷⁾of Hezron, the Hezronite clan; of Carmi, the Carmite clan. ⁷⁽⁸⁾These are the Reubenite clans, and those of them who were numbered were 43,730.

⁸⁽⁹⁾And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹⁽¹⁰⁾And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. This Dathan and Abiram were famous among the congregation, who fought for power against Moses, and Against Aaron in the congregation of Korah, when they fought for power against Yahweh. ¹⁰⁽¹¹⁾And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with Korah when that congregation died, when the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became an example. ¹¹⁽¹²⁾The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

¹²⁽¹³⁾The people of Simeon by their clans: of Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; of Jamin, the Jaminite clan; or Jachin, the Jachinite clan; ¹³⁽¹⁴⁾of Zerah, the Zerahite clan; of Shaul, the Shaulite clan. ¹⁴⁽¹⁵⁾These are the Simeonite clans: 22,200.

¹⁵⁽¹⁶⁾The people of Gad by their clans: of Zephon, the Zephonite clan; or Haggi, the Haggite clan; or Shuni, the Shunite clan; ¹⁶⁽¹⁷⁾of Ozni, the Oznite clan; of Eri, the Erite clan; ¹⁷⁽¹⁸⁾of Arod, the Arodite clan; or Areli, the Arelite clan. ¹⁸⁽¹⁹⁾These are the clans of the people of Gad, of those of them who were numbered: 40,500.

¹⁹⁽²⁰⁾The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰⁽²¹⁾And the sons of Judah by their clans: of Shelah, the Shelanite clan; of Perez, the Parzite clan; of Zerah, the Zarhite clan. ²¹⁽²²⁾And the sons of Perez: of Hezron, the Hezronite clan; of Hamul, the Hamulite clan. ²²⁽²³⁾There are the clans of Judah, of those who were numbered of them, 76,500.

²³⁽²⁴⁾The sons of Issachar by their clains: Tola, the Tolaite clan; of Puvah, the Punite clan; ²⁴⁽²⁵⁾ of Jashub, the Jashubite clan; of Shimron, the Shimronite clan. ²⁵⁽²⁶⁾These are the clans of Isaachar, of those who were numbered of them: 64,300.

²⁶⁽²⁷⁾The sons of Zebulun by their clans: of Sered, the Sardite clan; or Elon, the Elonite clan; of Jahlel, the Jahlelite clan. ²⁷⁽²⁸⁾These are the Zebulunite clans, of those who were numbered of them: 60,500.

²⁸⁽²⁹⁾The sons of Joseph, by their clans: Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹⁽³⁰⁾The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the Machirite clan. Machir was the father of Gilead, Of Gilead; the Gileadite clan. ³⁰⁽³¹⁾The are the sons of Gilead: Jezer, the Jezerite clan; of Helek, the Helekite clan; ³¹⁽³²⁾and Asriel, the Asrielite clan; and Shechem, the Shechemite clan; ³²⁽³³⁾and Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; and Hepher, the Hepherite clan. ³³⁽³⁴⁾And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahla and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴⁽³⁵⁾These are the families of Manasseh, and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

³⁵⁽³⁶⁾These were the sons of Ephraim by their clans: of Shuthelah, the Shuthalhite clan; of Becher, the Bachrite clan; of Tahan, the Tahanite clan. ³⁶⁽³⁷⁾And these were the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the Eranite clan. ³⁷⁽³⁸⁾These are the clans of the sons of Ephraim, of those who were numbered of them, 32,500.

These were the sons of Joseph by their clans.

³⁸⁽³⁹⁾The sons of Benjamin, by their clans: of Bela, the Belaite clan; of Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; of Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan; ³⁹⁽⁴⁰⁾of Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; of Hupham, the Huphamite clan. ⁴⁰⁽⁴¹⁾And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman, the Ardite clan; of Naaman, the Naamite clan. ⁴¹⁽⁴²⁾The were the sons of Benjamin by their clans, and those who were numbered of them were 45,600.

⁴²⁽⁴³⁾These are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These are the clans of Dan by their clans. ⁴³⁽⁴⁴⁾All the clans of the Shuhamites, of all who were numbered among them, were 64,400.

⁴⁴⁽⁴⁵⁾ The sons of Asher, by their clans: of Jimnah, the Jimnah clan; of Jishvi, the Jishvite clan; of Beriah, the Beriite clan. ⁴⁵⁽⁴⁶⁾Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the Heberite clan; of Malchiel, the Malchielite clan. ⁴⁶⁽⁴⁷⁾And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷⁽⁴⁸⁾These were the clans of the people of Asher, of those who were numbered of them, 53,400.

⁴⁸⁽⁴⁹⁾The sons of Naphtali, by their clans: of Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; of Guni, the Gunite clan; ⁴⁹⁽⁵⁰⁾of Jezer, the Jezerite clan; of Shillem, the Shillemite clan. ⁵⁰⁽⁵¹⁾These were the clans of Naphtali, by their clans, and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

⁵¹⁽⁵²⁾These were those numbered of the sons of Israel: 601,730.

⁵²⁽⁵³⁾And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

⁵³⁽⁵⁴⁾ To these the land will be divided as an inheritance, in proportion to the number of names. ⁵⁴⁽⁵⁵⁾ To those that are numerous you will give a greater inheritance, and to those who are few you are to give a smaller inheritance: to each one the inheritance is to be given by their census figures. ⁵⁵⁽⁵⁶⁾ Yet the land will be divided by lot; by the names of their ancestral tribes they will inherit. ⁵⁶⁽⁵⁷⁾ Thus, by means of the lot, the inheritance is to be divided between the many and the few.

⁵⁷⁽⁵⁸⁾And these were those who were numbered of the Levites by their clans: of Gershon, the Gershonite clan; of Kohath, the Kohathite clan; of Merari, the Merarite clan. ⁵⁸⁽⁵⁹⁾ These were the clans of Levi: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korathite clan. And Kohath was the father of Amram. ⁵⁹⁽⁶⁰⁾And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom she bore to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. ⁶⁰⁽⁶¹⁾And Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹⁽⁶²⁾And Nadab and Abihu died when they presented strange fire before Yahweh. ⁶²⁽⁶³⁾All those who were numbered of them were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, because they were not numbered with the Israelites, because they were given no inheritance among the Israelites.

⁶³⁽⁶⁴⁾These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the Israelites in the deserts of Moab by the Jordan [near] Jericho. ⁶⁴⁽⁶⁵⁾And among all of them there was not a single man of those whom Moses and Aaron the priest had numbered, when they numbered the Israelites in Sinai wilderness. ⁶⁵⁽⁶⁶⁾This is because Yahweh had said about them, "They will surely die in the wilderness." Not a man of them was left except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Chapter 27

¹ And the daughters of Zelophehad son of^[182] Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, of the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph, approached, and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah,^[183] and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, and all the congregation, by the entrance to the tent of meeting, and said, ³ "Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the congregation who gathered together against Yahweh in the congregation of Korah, but he died for his own sin, and had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father die out among his clan, because he has no son? Give us an inheritance of land alongside our father's relatives."

⁵ And Moses presented their case before Yahweh.

⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, ⁷ "The daughters of Zelophehad speak rightly. You must give them an inheritance of land among their father's relatives and pass their father's inheritance on to them. ⁸ Tell this to the Israelites. If a man dies, and has no son, you must pass his inheritance on to his daughter. ⁹ And if he has no daughter, then you will pass his inheritance on to his brothers. ¹⁰ And if he has no brothers, then you will pass his inheritance on to his father's brothers. ¹¹ And if his father has no brothers, you will give his inheritance to his closest surviving relative in his clan. This is to be a customary regulation for the Israelites, as Yahweh commanded Moses."

¹² And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go up this mountain in the Abarim range, and see the land which I have given to the Israelites. ¹³ And when you have seen it, you will pass away,^[184] just as your brother Aaron passed away. ¹⁴ Because you rebelled against my instruction in the wilderness of Zin to show my holiness by means of the waters as they watched. These were the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin."

¹⁵ Moses said to Yahweh, ¹⁶ "May Yahweh, the god of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man to oversee this congregation, ¹⁷ who will go out before them, and who may go in before them, and who may bring them in, so that the congregation of Yahweh may not become like a flock without a shepherd."

¹⁸ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Take yourself Joshua bin^[68] Nun, a man in whom the spirit is, and place your hand upon him. ¹⁹ Have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest, and in front of all the congregation, and give him instructions as they watch. ²⁰ And you will give him some of your authority, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will obey him. ²¹ He will stand in front of Eleazar the priest, who will inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim and Thummim^[185] before Yahweh. They will go out when he says so, and come in, he and all the Israelites with him, all the congregation."

²² Moses did as Yahweh commanded him, and took Joshua and had him stand in front of Eleazar the priest, and in front of all the congregation. ²³ And he placed his hands on him, and commanded him as Yahweh commanded by Moses.

Chapter 28

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses,

² Command the Israelites, and tell them, "My offering, my bread for my fire-offerings, a soothing scent for me, you will observe, to offer them to me at at their appointed time."

³ And tell them, "This is the fire-offering which you are to present to Yahweh: two unblemished lambs a year old each day, as a continual offering. ⁴ You are to do one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb between the two evenings,^{[186] 5} and one tenth of an ephah^[187] of fine flour for a meal-offering, mixed with a quarter hin^[188] of beaten oil. ⁶ It is the continual burnt-offering, ordained on Mount Sinai as a soothing scent, a fire-sacrifice for Yahweh. ⁷ And its drink-offering will be a quarter hin for one lamb, in the sanctuary you shall have them pour a drinking-offering of beer for Yahweh. ⁸ And the other lamb you shall give between the two evenings, just the meal-offering of the morning, and just as its drink-offering you will give it, a sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh.

⁹ And on the Sabbath day, two lambs a year old, unblemished, and two issaron^[189] of flour, mixed with oil, as its drink-offering. ¹⁰[This is] the birth offering for a Sabbath, besides the continual burnt-offering, and its drink-offering.

¹¹ And in the beginnings of your months you will offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs a year old, without blemishes; ¹² and three issaron of fine flour as a meal-offering, mixed with oil, for one bull, and two issaron of fine flour as a meal-offering mixed with oil for one ram; ¹³ and an issaron of fine flour mixed with oil for each individual lamb, a burnt offering, a soothing scent, a sacrifice by fire to Yahweh. ¹⁴ And their drink-offerings will be a half hin for each bull, and a third of a hin for each ram, and a quarter hin for each lamb. This is the monthly burnt offering throughout the months of the year. ¹⁵ And one goat kid as a sin-offering to Yahweh, in addition to the continual burnt offering, will be offered with its drink-offering.

¹⁶ And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the Passover of Yahweh. ¹⁷ And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast. For seven days unleavened bread will be eaten. ¹⁸ On the first day will be a holy convocation. You are to do no kind of ordinary work. ¹⁹ And you will offer a burnt offering to Yahweh, two young bulls, and one ram, and seven lambs a year old. See that they are unblemished.^{[190] 20} And their meal-offering will be fine flour mixed with oil. You are to give three issaron for a bull and two issaron for a ram. ²¹ You are two offer an issaron lamb, for each of the seven lambs. ²² And one goat as a sin-offering to make atonement for you. ²³ You will give these besides the burnt offering for the morning, which is for the continual burnt offering. ²⁴ In the same manner as these you are to give daily for seven days the bread of the sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh. It will be offered with the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. ²⁵ And on the seventh day you will have a holy convocation. You are to do no ordinary work.

²⁶ And on the day of firstfruits, when you present a new meal-offering to Yahweh, at your [Festival of] Weeks, you will have a holy convocation. You are to do no ordinary work. ²⁷ And you will offer a burnt offering as a soothing scent for Yahweh: two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs a year old; ²⁸ and their meal-offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three issaron for one bull, two issaron for one ram, ²⁹ an issaron for each lamb, for each of the seven lambs; ³⁰ one goat kid, to make atonement for you. ³¹ In addition to the continual burnt-offering, and its meal offering, you will offer them (see that they are unblemished) and their drink offerings.

Chapter 29

¹ And in the seventh month, on the first of the month, you will have a holy convocation. You are to do no ordinary work, it is a day of blowing trumpets^[191] for you. ² And you will offer a burnt offering as a soothing scent for Yahweh, one young bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, unblemished. ³ And their meal-offering will be fine flour mixed with oil, three issaron^[192] for a bull, two issaron for a ram, ⁴ and one issaron for each lamb, for the seven lambs, ⁵ and one kid goat as a sin-offering to make atonement for you, ⁶ in addition to the burnt offering of the month, and its meal-offering, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, according to their custom, for a soothing scent, a sacrifice by fire to Yahweh.

⁷ And on the tenth [day] of this seventh month you will have a holy convocation, and you will humble yourselves. You will not do any ordinary work. ⁸ And you will offer a burnt offering to Yahweh, a soothing scent: one young bull, one ram, seven year-old lambs. See that they are unblemished.^{[193] 9} And their meal-offering will be fine flour mixed with oil, three issaron for a bull, two issaron for one ram, ¹⁰ an issaron each for each lamb of the seven lambs. ¹¹ One kid goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the sin-offering of atonements, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal-offering, and their drink offerings.

¹² And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you will have a holy convocation. You will do no ordinary work, and you will observe a feast of Yahweh seven days. ¹³ And you will offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old. They are to be unblemished. ¹⁴ And their meal-offering will be of fine flour mixed with oil: three issaron for each bull of the thirteen bulls, two issaron for each ram of the two rams, ¹⁵ and an issaron each for each one of the lambs, for the fourteen lambs, ¹⁶ and one kid goat for a sin-offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

¹⁷ And on the second day, twelve young bulls, fourteen lams a year old, unblemished, ¹⁸ and their meal-offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs according to their number, as is customary; ¹⁹ and one kid goat for a sin-offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

²⁰ And on the third day eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old, unblemished; ²¹ and their meal-offering and their drink-offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, as is customary; ²² and one kid goat as a sin-offering, besides the continual burnt offering, and its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

²³ And on the fourth day ten bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old, unblemished; ²⁴ their meal-offering and their drink-offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, as is customary; ²⁵ and one kid goat as a sin-offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

²⁶ And on the fifth day nine bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old, unblemished; ²⁷ and their meal-offering and their drink-offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, as is customary; ²⁸ and one goat for a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

²⁹ And on the sixth day eight bulls, two rams, fourteen lams of the first year, unblemished; ³⁰ and their meal-offering and the drink-offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, according to their number, as is customary; ³¹ and one kid goat as a sin offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

³² And on the seventh day seven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs a year old, unblemished; ³³ and their meal-offering and their drink-offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, as is customary; ³⁴ and one goat as a sin-offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal-offering, and its drink-offering.

³⁵ On the eighth day you will have a solemn assembly. You will do no ordinary work. ³⁶ And you will offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice by fire, a soothing scent for Yahweh: one bull, one ram, seven rams a year old, unblemished; ³⁷ their meal-offering and their drink-offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, according to their number, as is customary; ³⁸ one goat as a sin-offering; in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meat offering, and its drink-offering.

³⁹ These things you are to do for Yahweh on your fixed days, besides your vowes, and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your meal-offerings, and for your drink-offerings, and for your peace-offerings.

⁴⁰ And Moses told the Israelites everything that Yahweh commanded Moses.

Chapter 30

¹ And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes about the Israelites, and said:

This is what Yahweh commanded. ² If a man makes a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul, he must not break his word. He must do everything that came out of his mouth.

³ If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh, and binds herself by a promise while she is still a youth in her father's house, ⁴ and her father hears her vow, and the bond with which she has bound her soul, and her father holds his peace with her, then all her vowes will stand, and every bond with which she has bound her soul will stand. ⁵ But if her father forbids her on the day he hears, none of her vows and her bonds with which she has bound herself will stand. And Yahweh will pardon her, because her father forbade her.

⁶ And if she should have a husband, when she has vowed, or made a rash promise with her lips with which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears, and does not express his disapproval to her on the day that he heard it, then her vows will stand, and her bonds by which she has bound herself will stand. ⁸ But if, on the day her husband heard, he expressed his disapproval to her, then he has nullified the vow which had applied to her, and the rash promise on her lips with which she bound herself. And Yahweh will pardon her.

⁹ But any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, with which she has bound herself, will remain binding upon her.

¹⁰ But if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself with a binding obligation with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard and did not object to her, if he did not nullify it, all her vows will stand, and every binding obligation with which she bound herself will remain in force. ¹² But if her husband has nullified them on the day he heard, whatever came from her lips concerning her vows, or concerning her binding obligations upon herself, they will not remain in force. Her husband has nullified them, and Yahweh will forgive her. ¹³ Any vow, and any binding oath to fast, her husband may confirm it, and her husband may make it void. ¹⁴ But if her husband does not express his disapproval to her from day to day, then he confirms the validity of all vows, or all binding obligations which apply to her. He confirms their validity because he did not express his disapproval on the day he heard. ¹⁵ But if he nullifies them after he heard, then he will bear her punishment.

¹⁶ These are the regulations which Yahweh commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between a father and his daughter when she is young in her father's house.

Chapter 31

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, ² "Take revenge for the children of Israel against the Midianites. Afterward, you will pass away."^[194]

³ So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men for war. They will go out against Midian, to carry out Yahweh's revenge on Midian. ⁴ Send out for war one thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel."

⁵ So out of the thousands of Israel a thousand were selected from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ Moses sent them out for war, a thousand from every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest for the war, with the holy objects and the trumpets to sound in his hand. ⁷ And they fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸ Along with the rest of the slain, they killed the kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹ And the Israelites captured the women of Midian, and their little ones, and they took as plunder their cattle, and all their livestock, and all their wealth. ¹⁰ And they burned all their cities that they lived in, and all their nomadic encampments, with fire. ¹¹ And they took all the loot and all plunder, both human and animal.

¹² And they brought the captives, and the plunder, and the loot, to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all congregation of the Israelites at the encampment in the deserts of Moab, which are beside the Jordan [near] Jericho. ¹³ Then Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the encampment. ¹⁴ And Moses was angry with the oversees of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds who were coming from the battle.

¹⁵ And Moses said to them,

"Have you kept the females alive? ¹⁶ They are the ones who caused the Israelites to transgress^[195] against Yahweh by the advice of Balaam concerning the Peor affair, when there was a plague among the congregation of Yahweh. ¹⁷ So now, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has had intimate relations with a man. ¹⁸ But keep alive for yourselves all the female children who have not had intimate relations with a man. ¹⁹ Lodge outside the camp seven days: whoever has killed a person, and whoever has touched a dead body, purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, and your captives. ²⁰ And purify all your clothing, and everything made of hide, and anything made of goathair, and everything made of wood.

²¹ And Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone to the battle,

This is the instruction of the law which Yahweh commanded Moses. ²² Only the gold and the silver; the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead; ²³ anything that can survive in fire, you are to pass through the fire and cleanse it. Those things are not to be cleansed with the water of impurity.^[196] But whatever cannot survive in fire you shall pass through the water. ²⁴ And you will wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be cleansed, and afterward you will come into the camp.

²⁵ And Yahweh said to Moses, ²⁶ You, and Eleazar the priest, and the ancestral heads of the congregation, are to take a headcount of the captives, both human and animal. ²⁷ Divide the plunder into half, between those who took responsibility for the war by going out to battle, and the congregation. ²⁸ And offer a proportion to Yahweh from the soldiers who went out to fight: one living thing of every five hundred, whether from humans, or cattle, or donkeys, or sheep or goats. ²⁹ Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave-offering of Yahweh. ³⁰ And from the Israelites' half take one part of fifty, from humans, from cattle, from donkey, from sheep or goats — from all kinds of animals — and give them to the Levites who carry out the duties of Yahweh's tabernacle.

³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³² And the spoils, the rest of the plunder that the soldiers had plundered, was 675,000 sheep or goats, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵ and 32,000 human beings, of women who had not known any male intimately.

³⁶ And the half which was the portion of those who went out to battle numbered 337,500 sheep or goats. ³⁷ And Yahweh's share of the sheep and goats was 675. ³⁸ And the cattle were 36,000, and Yahweh's share was 72. ³⁹ And the donkeys were 30,500, and Yahweh's share was 61. ⁴⁰ The human beings were 16,000, and Yahweh's share of them was 32 persons. ⁴¹ And Moses gave the share of Yahweh's heave-offering to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁴² And from the half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses had divided from the men who fought, ⁴³ (Now the half belonging to the congregation was 337,000 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and 16,000 human beings.) ⁴⁷ Moses took from the Israelite's half one part from fifty, from humans and livestock, and gave them to the Levites who were entrusted with the duties of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ⁴⁸ And the officers who were over thousands of soldiers, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, approached Moses. ⁴⁹ And they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a headcount of the soldiers under our command, and not a man of us is missing. ⁵⁰ So we have brought an offering for Yahweh, the gold objects that every man has found: armbands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, kumaz.^{[197] 51} Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the crafted objects. ⁵² Now all the gold of the heave-offering which they offered to Yahweh was 16,750 shekels from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. ⁵³ The soldiers had each taken plunder for themselves. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and hundreds, and brought it to the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the Israelites before Yahweh.

Chapter 32

¹ Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad^[198] had a great deal of lifestock, very vast, and the looked at the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and saw that it was a suitable place for livestock. ² So the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, ³ "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the land which Yahweh conquered before the Israelite congregation, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." ⁵ And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not bring us across the Jordan."

⁶ And Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Should your brothers go to war, while you sit here? ⁷ Why should you discourage the Israelites from crossing over into the land which Yahweh has given them? ⁸ That is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. ⁹ When they went up from the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from going into the land which Yahweh had given them. ¹⁰ And Yahweh's anger was aroused at that time, and he swore, ¹¹ 'I swear that none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, will see the land that I swore to their ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because have not fully obeyed me, ¹² except for Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua bin^[68] Nun, because they have fully obeyed Yahweh.' ¹³ And Yahweh's anger was aroused against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all that generations which had done evil in Yahweh's view was finished off. ¹⁴ And here you are, risen up in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to yet again increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel, ¹⁵ because if you turn away from following him, he will again leave them in the wilderness, and you will cause the destruction of all this people."

¹⁶ And they approached and said to him, "We will build sheepfolds for our livestock here, and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but we ourselves will go out armed for battle, rushing out before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones stay in the fortified citizens away from the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our houses until every one of the Israelites has received his inheritance. ¹⁹ But we will not receive an inheritance among them on the other side of the Jordan or beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east."

²⁰ And Moses said to them, "If you will do this thing, if you will go out armed to war before Yahweh, ²¹ and if all of you will cross over the Jordan armed before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ²² and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you may return and be blameless as far as Yahweh is concerned, and as far as Israel is concerned. Then this land will be yours as a possession before Yahweh. ²³ But if will not do this, then you have sinned against Yahweh, and you can be sure that your sin will find you. ²⁴ Fortify cities for your little ones, and build folds for your flocks, and do as you have said."

²⁵ And the Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will stay here in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ But your servants will cross over, all armed for war before Yahweh, to wage war just as my lord says."

²⁸ Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, Joshua bin Nun, and the ancestral leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, concerning them. ²⁹ And Moses said to them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites cross over the Jordan with you, all armed for battle before Yahweh, and the land land is subdued before you, then you must give them the land of the Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ But if they do not cross over armed with you, then their possessions will be among you in the land of Canaan."

³¹ And the Gadites and Reubenites replied, "What Yahweh as said to his servants, we will do. ³² We will cross over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, so that our inheritance of land may be on this side of the Jordan."

³³ And Moses gave to the Gadites and the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of the Bashan, the land with its cities within its borders, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴ And the Gadites built^[199] Dibon, Araroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth, Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and sheepfolds.

³⁷ And the Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Shibmah, and they gave new names to the cities which they built.

³⁹ And the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ And Moses gave the Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and they dwelt there.^{[200] 41} And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured its villages, and called them Havoth Jair.^{[201] 42} And Nobah went and took Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Chapter 33

¹ These are the journeys of the Israelites, who went out from the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. ² And Moses wrote down their departures during their journeys at Yahweh's instruction, and these are their journeys according to their departures.

³ They began their journey from Ramses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the morning after the Passover the Israelites went out with a high hand in full view of all the Egyptians. ⁴ The Egyptians were burying those whom Yahweh had struck down every firstborn among them. And Yahweh carried out judgments against their gods.

⁵ And the Israelites continued their journey from Ramses, and encamped in Sukkoth. ⁶ And they continued their journey from Sukkoth, and encamped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷ And they continued their journey from Etham, and turned toward Pi-hahiroth, which is opposite Baal-zephon, and they encamped in front of Migdol. ⁸ And they continued their joruney from Pi-hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days journey into the wilderness of Etham, and encamped at Marah. ⁹ And they continued their journey from Marah, and came to Elim, and at Elim there were twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm-trees, and they encamped there. ¹⁰ And they continued their journey from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. ¹¹ And they continued their journey from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.^{[202] 12} And they continued their journey from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped at Dophkah. ¹³ And they continued their journey from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. ¹⁴ And they continued their journey from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁵ And they continued their journey from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶ And they continued their journey from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped at Kibroth-hattavah. ¹⁷ And they continued their journey from Kibroth-hattavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. ¹⁸ And they continued their journey from Hazeroth, and encamped at Rithmah. ¹⁹ And they continued their journey from Rithmah, and encamped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰ And they continued their journey from Rimmon-perez, and encamped at Libnah. ²¹ And they continued their journey from Libnah, and encamped at Rissah. ²² And they continued their journey from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. ²³ And they continued their journey from Kehelathah, and encamped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ And they continued their journey from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. ²⁵ And they continued their journey from Haradah, and encamped in Maqheloth. ²⁶ And they continued their journey from Maqheloth, and encamped at Tahath. ²⁷ And they continued their journey from Tahath, and encamped at Terah. ²⁸ And they continued their journey from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. ²⁹ And they continued their journey from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. ³⁰ And they continued their journey from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. ³¹ And they continued their journey from Moseroth, and encamped and Bene-jaakan. ³² And they continued from Bene-jaakan, and encamped at Hor-hagidgad. ³³ And they continued their journey from Hor-hagidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. ³⁴ And they continued their journey from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah. ³⁵ And they continued their journey from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-geber.^{[203] 36} And they continued their journey from Ezion-geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. ³⁷ And they continued their journey from Kadesh, and encamped at Hor the mountain,^[139] at the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸ And Aaron the priest went up to Hor the mountain at the instruction of Yahweh, and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites came out from the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Hor the mountain. ⁴⁰ And the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of the land of Canaan, heard the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹ And they continued their journey from Hor the mountain, and encamped in Zalmonah. ⁴² And they continued their journey from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. ⁴³ And they continued their journey from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. ⁴⁴ And they continued their journey from Oboth, and encamped in Iyye-abarim, on the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ And they continued their journey from Iyyim, and encamped in Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ And they continued their journey from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaimah. ⁴⁷ And they continued their journey from Almon-diblathaimah, and encamped in the mountains of the Abarim, in front of Nebo. ⁴⁸ And they continued their journey from the mountains of the Abarim, and encamped in the deserts of Moab, by the Jordan [near] Jericho. ⁴⁹ And they encamped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimon as far as Abel-shittim in the deserts of Moab.

⁵⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Moses in the deserts of Moab by the Jordan [near] Jericho: ⁵¹ "Speak to the Israelites, and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan to the land of Canaan, ⁵² you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, and destroy all their statues, and do away with all their molten images, and lay waste to all their shrines. ⁵³ You must take full possession of the land, and settle there, because I have given you the land to possess it. ⁵⁴ You are to divide the land by lot among your clans. To the more numerous, you must give a larger inheritance; and to the fewer, you must give a smaller inheritance. Wherever one's lot falls, that will be his assigned place. According to the tribes of your fathers you will inherit. ⁵⁵ But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from your presence, then those of them who remain will be thorns in your eyes and barbs in your sides, and they will be hostile to you in the land where you live.' ⁵⁶ Then I will do to them what I have considered doing to them."

Chapter 34

¹ Yahweh said to Moses,

² Command the Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land of Canaan — this is the land which will fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan with its borders — ³ Then your southern side will extend from the wilderness of Zin along edge of Edom, and your southern border will be along the coast of the Salt Sea eastward. ⁴ And your boundary will turn southward toward Maale-akrabbim, and passs on to Zin, and it will go forth from the Negev to Kadesh Barnea, and go out to Hazar-addar, and pass on to Azmon. ⁵ And the boundary will turn from Azmon to the river of Egypt, and end at the sea.

⁶ As for the western border, you will have the Great Sea^[204] as your border. This is to be your western border.

⁷ And this will be your northern border: from the Great Sea you will draw a line to Hor the mountain.^{[139][205] 8} From Hor the mountain, draw a line to the entrance of Hamath, ending at Zedad. ⁹ And the border will extend to Ziphron, ending at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ And you will draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ And the border will go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will go down reach along the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth eastward. ¹² And the border will go down to the Jordan, ending at the Salt Sea.

This will be your land, surrounded by its borders.

¹³ And Moses commanded the Israelites,

This is the land which you will inherit by lot, which Yahweh commanded to be given to the to the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ¹⁴ But the tribe of the Reubenites by their lineage, the Gadites by their lineage, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance. ¹⁵ The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan [near] Jericho on the eastern side.^[206]

¹⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses,

¹⁷ These are the names of the men who will divide the land into inheritances with you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua bin^[68] Nun. ¹⁸ You must take one leader of each tribe, to distribute the inheritances. ¹⁹ And these are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb ben Jephunneh; ²⁰ of the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel ben Ammihud; ²¹ of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad ben Kislon; ²² and the leader of the tribe of the Danites, Bukki ben Jogli; ²³ and the leader of the descendants of Joseph, of the tribe of the Manassites, Hanniel ben Ephod; ²⁴ and of the tribe of the Ephraimites, the leader Kemuel ben Shiphtan; ²⁵ and of the tribe of the Zebulunites, the leader Elizaphan ben Parnach; ²⁶ and of the tribe of the Issacharites; the leader Paltiel ben-Azzan; ²⁷ and of the tribe of the Asherites, Ahihud ben Shelomi; ²⁸ and of the tribe of the Naphtalites, Pedahel ben Ammihud.

²⁹ These are those whom Yahweh commanded to distribute the inheritances of the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Chapter 35

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses in the deserts of Moab by the Jordan [near] Jericho,

² Command the Israelites to give the Levites a portion of their inherited land as cities to settle in, and give the Levites the hinterlands surrounding the cities. ³ They will have the cities to settle in, and their hinterlands will be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for their animals. ⁴ And the hinterlands of the cities which you will give to the Levites will extend from the city wall outward one thousand cubits^[207] around. ⁵ And you will measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle.^[208] So will be the hinterlands of the cities. ⁶ And with the cities which you give to the Levites there will be six cities of refuge, which you will give so that a manslayer can flee there, and in addition to these you will give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities which you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, them and their hinterlands. ⁸ And the cities which you will give from the land of the Israelites, from the numerous [tribes] you will give many, and from the less populated tribes you will give less. Each one, in proportion to its inheritance which they inherit, will give some of its cities to the Levites.

⁹ And Yahweh said to Moses,

¹⁰ Speak to the Israelites and tell them this. When you cross over the Jordan to the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you will appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge. You will have them so that a manslayer can flee there, when he kills anyone unintentionally. ¹² You will have them as cities for refuge from the avenger,^[209] so that the manslayer may not die before he has stood in front of the assembly for judgment. ¹³ And of these cities which you will give, you will have cities cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You will give three cities on the other side of the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, as cities of refuge. ¹⁵ For Israelites, and for resident aliens, and for foreigners among you, these six cities will be for refuge, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally can flee there.

¹⁶ And if he strikes him with an iron tool, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death. ¹⁷ And if strikes him by throwing a stone, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death. ¹⁸ And if he strikes him with a wooden instrument in his hand, which could kill a person, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood is the one who will kill the murderer. When he comes up him, he will kill him. ²⁰ And if he pushes him with [premeditated] hatred, or throws [something]^[210] ambushing him and kills him, ²¹ or in enmity strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him is a murderer. He will be put to death. The avenger of blood will kill the murderer when he comes upon him. ²² But if he pushed him suddenly, without enmity, or threw any object at him without ambushing him, ²³ or threw a stone at him large enough to kill, without seeing him, and he died, but he was not his enemy, and he did not try to harm him, ²⁴ then the assembly will judge between the killer and the avenger of blood in terms of these principles. ²⁵ And the assembly will protect the manslayer from the avenger of blood, and the assembly will return him to the city of refuge that he fled to. And he must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with holy oil. ²⁶ And if the manslayer ever leaves the city of refuge that he has fled to, ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the territory of his city of refuge, the avenger of blood may kill the manslayer, and he will not be guilty of bloodshed, ²⁸ because he should have stayed in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest he manslayer may return to his own land.

²⁹ So these things will be a customary law for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling-places. ³⁰ Whoever kills a person, the murderer will be put to death at the testimony of witnesses. But the testimony of a single witnesses will not cause anyone to be put to death. ³¹ You must accept no compensation for the life of a someone who commits intentional homicide.^[211] Instead, he must be put to death. ³² And you must accept no compensation for someone who has fled to his city of refuge, to allow him to return to stay in the land, before the death of the priest. ³³ Thus you must not defile the land where you are, because bloodshed defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood which is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ So do not pollute the land where you live, where I dwell, because I, Yahweh, dwell among the Israelites.

Chapter 36

¹ The ancestral heads of the clans of the descendants of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendants of Joseph, approached and spoke before Moses, and before the leaders, the ancestral heads of the Israelites. ² They said,

Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites, and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ So if they are married to anyone from the Israelite tribes, then their inheritance will be removed from the inheritance of our ancestors, and transferred to the inheritance of the tribe which they join, and it will be removed from our allotted inheritance. ⁴ And when the jubilee of the Israelites comes around, their inheritance will be transferred to the inheritance of the tribe which they join, and their inheritance will be removed from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.

⁵ So Moses commanded the Israelites according to Yahweh's instruction,

The tribe of the descendants of Joseph has spoken correctly. ⁶ This is what Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad. Let them marry whomever seems good to them, but they may only marry within their father's tribe. ⁷ The inheritance of the Israelites must not be transferred from tribe to tribe. Instead, each of the Israelites must stay attached to the inheritance of his ancestral tribe. ⁸ And any daughters who is the heir of an inheritance among the Israelite tribes must marry within the family of the father's tribe, so that the Israelites will each receive the inheritance of their ancestors. ⁹ So an inheritance must not be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, but rather the Israelite tribes will stay attached each one to his own inheritance.

¹⁰ Just as Yahweh commanded Moses, the daughters of Zelophehad did so. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their paternal uncles. ¹² They were married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance stayed in the tribe of their father's clan.

¹³ These are the commandments and the customs which Yahweh commanded through Moses to the Israelites in the deserts of Moab, by the Jordan [near] Jericho.

Footnotes

1. (1:16) thousands. Or, clans.
2. •: This marks a paragraph mark (setumah) of the Masoretic Text
3. (1:21) ¶. This indicates a paragraph marking in the Masoretic Text.
4. The translation of the Hebrew word נשיא is disputed; however, it clearly refers to some sort of head of the tribe.
5. (2:3) Judahites. Literally, sons of Judah.
6. (2:5) people of Issachar. Literally, sons of Issachar.
7. (2:7) people. Literally, sons.
8. (2:10) people. Literally, sons.
9. (2:12) people. Literally, sons.
10. (2:14) Gadites. Literally, sons of Gad.
11. (2:14) Deuel - the way the name is given in all other instances; in this verse, the name starts with a ר (parallel to the English letter R), which looks almost like the letter ד (parallel to the English D).
12. Ephraimites. Literally, sons of Ephraim.
13. Manassites. Literally, sons of Manasseh.
14. Benjamites. Literally, sons of Benjamin.
15. Danites. Literally, sons of Dan.
16. (2:27) Asherites. Literally, sons of Asher.
17. (2:29) Naphtalites
18. (2:32) Israelites. Literally, sons of Israel.
19. Literally: "their hand was full to"
20. Literally, skull.
21. Literally: "raise the head of"
22. Literally: "the lying of seed"
23. Literally: "passed over him"
24. Literally: "sown with seed."
25. Literally: "clean"
26. 7:3 large carts: Hebrew agalot tsab. In this phrase, agalot is a term for carts or wagons. The modifier tsab is a fairly rare term. It is found only here, Leviticus 11:29 (where it refers to a type of animal listed as being ritually unclean) and Isaiah 66:20 (where it is something that one might use to bring an offering). This translation follows Gesenius in interpreting it as referring to a spacious or large cart. Some other interpreters read tsab as “covered” (compare the reference in Leviticus where the KJV translates it as “tortoise").
27. 7:5 distributed according to their duties: literally, each according to his duty
28. 7:7 Gershonites: literally, sons of Gershon.
29. 7:8 Merarites: literally, sons of Merari
30. 7:9 Kohathites: literally, sons of Kohath
31. 7:11 Day by day, each leader: literally, one leader for the day, one leader for the day
32. 7:11 his gift: literally, their gift
33. 7:13, etc. dish: or platter, bowl (see Gesenius).
34. 7:13, etc. A shekel was about 0.4 ounces.
35. 7:13, etc. The exact weight of the standard sanctuary shekel is not known, although shekels in general weighed about 0.4 ounces each.
36. 7:15, etc. one young bull: literally, one young bull, son of [the] herd
37. 7:15, etc. in its first year: literally, son of its year, sometimes interpreted as one year old.
38. 7:16, etc. one male goat: literally, one kid of the goats
39. 7:17, etc. of the first year: literally, lambs, sons of a year
40. base: or perhaps, shaft
41. purifying water: literally, water of sin
42. A wave offering, normally, consisted of a portion of grain or meat waved, or moved through the air, in the hands of a priest, as a way of ritually presenting a portion to God. In this passage, unusually, it is the Levites themselves who are a portion of Israel presented as a wave offering to Yahweh. It is unclear how one would "wave" a group of people, and the author of this passage does not clearly specify what such a ritual would look like.
43. literally, sons.
44. Hebrew negef, a term referring always to a fatal plague brought by God as a result of infractions, and which was prevented or stopped by the carrying out of priestly or levitical rituals.
45. That is, their fellow Levites.
46. The Hebrew is unclear. In Hebrew, this verse establishes that a retired priest may assist non-retired priests lishmor mishmeret (here translated "in performing their duties"), but that they are not to yaabod any abodah (here translated as "do the work." Translators have taken varying approaches to what exactly this means.
47. (9:3) between the two evenings. The meaning of this phrase is unclear.
48. There has been debate over the precise meaning of the punishment of being cut off, and as to whether it implies capital punishment or something more like excommunication
49. (9:14) resident alien. Hebrew ger, describing a foreigner living within the land of Israel.
50. (9:18)Yahweh's command. Literally, Yahweh's mouth.
51. (10:4) clans. Here the Hebrew word alfei is sometimes translated as clans but sometimes as thousands.
52. (10:70) blow but not sound the signal. It is unclear what the intended distinction is between the verb translated "blow" and the verb translated "sound a signal." The idea is that this particular way of blowing is distinct from the sort that would cause the Israelites to pack up camp.
53. (10:13) at first. The meaning of "at first" is not completely clear. Perhaps this means that this was the first time that the Israelites moved camp in response to Yahweh's sign of moving the cloud. An alternate suggestion (see G. B. Gray's commentary) is that this word "at first" has been copied into this verse by mistake from verse 14.
54. In Hebrew names, ben means "son of," though it is not always used in a literal sense, and can also refer to a descendant.
55. (10:23) Gamaliel. The Masoretic reading pronounces it Gamliel.
56. (10:36) thousands. Or, clans.
57. (11:1) it displeased Yahweh. Literally, it was bad in Yahweh's eyes.
58. (11:3) Taberah. The name Taberah means "burning." Its precise location is not known.
59. (11:4) rabble. This Hebrew word, asafsuf, occurs only here. Its meaning is unclear. It may be a general term for a group of people gathered together, or it may be a contemptuous term, like "rabble." Some commentators have taken it to be a term referring to foreigners who left Egypt with the Israelites.
60. our appetites. Hebrew nafshenu, literally our life, or our soul. This translation assumes that the term nefesh ("life") refers here to a person's desire to eat, as it does in Isaiah 29:8, and in Proverbs 6:30 and 23:2. See George Buchanon Gray's commentary on Numbers.
61. (11:7) bdellium. It is not certain that the Hebrew word, bedolah, refers to bdellium.
62. (11:8) oil-dainty. It is not clear exactly what is meant by this Hebrew phrase, shad hashemen.
63. (11:11) And why are you so pitiless with me. Literally, And why have I not found favor in your eyes?
64. (11:12) in your arms. Literally, on your chest.
65. (11:20) a whole month. Literally, a month of days.
66. (11:23) The word arm is metaphorically used for God's power in various parts of the Bible
67. (10:25) prophesied. The word prophesied, in the Hebrew Bible, sometimes refers not to telling the future but instead to a sort of supernaturally-induced ecstatic behavior.
68. (10:28) bin In Hebrew names, ben means son of. For reasons that are not known, it is spelled bin when it appears in the name of Joshua son of Nun.
69. (11:31) cubits. A cubit is about eighteen inches.
70. An homer is a unit of volume, about ten bushels.
71. (10:33) George Gray, in his commentary on numbers, expresses some doubt whether before it was chewed is an acceptable translation of the Hebrew terem yikkaret.
72. (10:34) Kibroth Hattaavah means graves of those who crave.
73. (12:1) Kushite. The Kushites were a people living south of Egypt, known for having dark skin.
74. (12:10) tzaarath. Though it is traditionally translated as leprosy, the description of this disease, which causes whitening of skin, does not match any disease known in the modern world.
75. (12:13) God. The Hebrew term here is El, rather than the more common Elohim.
76. (13:2) scout - the subject of this story is generally known as "the sin of the spies". However, the verb used here in this story isn't one of the verbs used elsewhere to mean "spy" (חפר and רגל). The verb used here (תור) is used in 2 other verses in the bible, both referring to God finding a place for the Israelites to stop.
77. (13:2) one man descended from each tribe. Literally, one man, one man, from the tribe of his fathers.
78. (13:4) Zaccur. Sometimes spelled Zakkur.
79. (13:8) Hosea son of Nun. This is another name for Joshua son of Nun.
80. (13:5) Machi. Sometimes spelled Maki.
81. (13:16) Joshua. Hebrew Yehoshua.
82. Negev. This an arid region to the south of Judah, sometimes spelled Negeb.
83. (13:20) Now it was the time of year when the first grapes ripened. Literally, and the days were days of firstfruits of grapes. George Gray's commentary on Numbers places this around July.
84. (13:22) came - unlike the rest of the verbs here in this section, this verb is singular.
85. (13:22) seven years before. On this sentence, see Nadav Na'aman, "Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt" (Numbers XIII 22), Vetus Testamentum 31 (1981), pp. 488-492.
86. 13:23. cluster. The Hebrew word for cluster is eshcol.
87. (13:24) In Hebrew, the word for cluster and the name of the place are both eshkol.
88. (14:1) wept loudly. Literally, lifted up . . . and gave their voice
89. (14:7) wonderful. Literally, very very good.
90. (14:9) we will conquer them easily. Literally, they are our bread.
91. (14:9) They have lost the ability to defend themselves. Literally, their defense has turned away from them.
92. (14:14) face to face. Literally, eye with eye.
93. (14:22) ten times. This could be taken in a literal sense: i.e., the writer has in mind ten occasions when the Israelites tested God. On the other hand, ten times is sometimes used as an idiom for quite a few times, as in Genesis 31:7 and Job 19:3.
94. (14:24) attitude. Literally spirit with him.
95. (14:30) swore. Literally, lifted my hand.
96. (14:34) opposition. The meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain.
97. (15:4) a tenth of an ephah. Hebrew, an issaron, a term which according to George Gray refers to about seven pints.
98. (15:4) hin. George Gray, in his commentary on Numbers, uses the estimate that a hin is about 6 liters.
99. (15:30) cut off. There is some debate as to whether this term refers to the death penalty, or to some lesser penalty such as excommunication.
100. (16:1) In this case, the extended name of Korah here indicates that he is a member of the tribe of Levi, of the division of the Kohathites.
101. (16:2) Israelites. Literally, sons of Israel.
102. (16:7) hot coals. Literally, fire.
103. (16:7) Levites. Literally, sons of Levi.
104. (16:10) Levites. Literally, sons of Levi.
105. (16:13) land flowing with milk and honey This is Yahweh's nickname for the land of Israel; when used to refer to other lands (in this case Egypt), the point is to mock Yahweh.
106. (16:14) Will you make these men blind? Literally, Will you put out the eyes of these men? The phrase "these men" is likely a euphemism for "us".
107. (16:22) El. Often translated as "God," El is the name of the highest deity in Canaanite religion. In the Bible, it is used as an alternate name for Yahweh.
108. (16:28) not myself alone - literally "not from my heart".
109. [Here this translation follows the verse numbering common in English Bibles. In Hebrew Bibles, the verses here numbered as 16:36 through 50 are 17:1 through 15. Hebrew verse numbers are given here in parentheses ().]
110. [Here this translation follows the verse numbering common in English Bibles. In Hebrew Bibles, the verses numbered here as 17:1-13 are 17:16-28. The Hebrew numbers are given in parentheses ().]
111. (17:2) staff. This story works in terms of an implicit pun, which does not operate in English. The Hebrew words for "tribe" and "staff" are identical: matte (pronounce it MAHT-TEY). Thus in this story each matte (tribe) gives a matte (staff) for an experiment, and the staff which shows visible signs of God's favor corresponds to the tribe which is chosen.
112. (17:2) ancestral house. Literally, house of a father. This referred not to a single nuclear household in the modern sense, but to a kin group of somewhat larger size. In this case it refers to the entire "tribe", of which traditionally twelve were held to make up Israel.
113. (17:4) testimony. That is, in front of the Ark of the Testimony, also known as the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the two tablets of the law, also known as the testimony.
114. (17:8) Tent of the Testimony. Another term for the Tent of Meeting.
115. (17:10) rebellious people. Literally, sons of rebellion.
116. (18:1) the responsibility. Or more literally, the guilt [for any mistake associated with]. So with both uses of responsibility in this verse.
117. (18:2) tribe . . . tribe. The first instance of tribe in this verse is the Hebrew word matte, the second is shebet. The two are synonyms.
118. (18:2) Tent of Testimony. An alternate name for the Tent of Meeting, also known as the Tabernacle. As used here, the Testimony is a synonym for the divinely revealed law of Yahweh.
119. (18:7) As a service of gift. The awkwardness in English reflects the apparent awkwardness of the Hebrew text at this point. According to George Gray's commentary on numbers, the strange phrasing here suggests a possibly copyist's error.
120. (18:10) in a most holy place. Or, as a most holy thing.
121. devoted. Hebrew, herem, a technical term. Certain gifts to God could be redeemed, that is, bought back under regulations outlined in biblical law. A gift given in such a way that it could not be redeemed was herem.
122. (18:15) redeem. Under this regulation, firstborn human beings were to be (symbolically) "given" to Yahweh, but then they were to be redeemed, "bought back" for a price. Financially, the net result was that a monetary donation to the priests was required when a woman gave birth to her first child.
123. (18:15) forbidden. That is, the animals which under biblical law were forbidden to eat.
124. (18:16) shekels. A shekel was a measure weighing about two-fifths of an ounce.
125. (18:16) gerahs. A gerah was a smaller measure of weight, evidently about 0.02 ounces.
126. (18:19) covenant of salt. According to George Gray's commentary on Numbers, this refers to a covenant or treaty made by sharing a meal between God and man. Salt was placed on all sacrifices.
127. (18:26-28). In other words, just as the Israelites in general were to give one-tenth of their agricultural production as a tithe, the Levites were to give one-tenth of what they received as a tithe to the priests. To put it in modern terms, 90% of the agricultural GDP was allocated to the Israelites, 9% to the Levites, and 1% to the priests.
128. (19:2) dabber. The imperative here is singular. Although verse 1 indicates that this is something Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, the command Tel . . . is directed at only one person, presumably Moses.
129. (19:2) red: the word in the original biblical Hebrew, אֲדֻמָּה, probably refers to a wider variety of shades than the modern English word red, and in context probably refers to brown.
130. (19:6) hyssop. This translation continues the long-established tradition of translating the Hebrew ezob as hyssop, but it is not clear exactly which species of plant the biblical hyssop was.
131. (19:6) fire with the heifer. Literally, the burning of the heifer.
132. (19:12) and on the seventh day he will be pure - this is indedd the simple reading of the first hqlf of the verse, but disagrees both with the second half and with verse 18 that sprinkling is needed also on the seventh day.
133. (19:15) lid fastened to it. Hebrew, tsamid patil. The meaning of patil is a thread or cord. But tsamid is less certain; in every other passage it refers to bracelets. This translation follows Gesenius and several translators in taking it here as referring to a covering for the vessel.
134. (20:1) Zin Wilderness. Hebrew מִדְבַּר־צִן, midbar tsin. A wilderness to the south of Judah, also referred to as the Zin Desert.
135. (20:1) Kadesh. On the difficulties of precisely locating it, Kadesh (biblical). Regardless it is either on or somewhat south of the southern border of Judah. The biblical descriptions of the land of Israel / land of Canaan vary in size and extent.
136. (20:5) place for grain. Literally, place of seed.
137. (20:13) Meribah is the Hebrew word quarreling.
138. Edom. A region and a people living to the south of Judah. See the Wikipedia article Edom.
139. The exact location of this mount Hor is unknown, although its placement "at the edge of Edom" puts in the same general area as Kadesh. The name "Mount Hor" is also written oddly in Hebrew. Normally one would expect to find the word har ("mount" or "hill-country") in front of the mountain's name: as in Genesis 31:25, "mount Gilead" is har haGilead. But in the case of mount Hor, the order is reverse: Hor hahar, literally, Hor the mountain.
140. (20:24) pass away: literally, be gathered to his people.
141. 20:26. pass away. Literally, be gathered.
142. (20:27) as all the congregation watched. Literally, toward the eyes of all the congregation.
143. (21:1) Arad is identified by some scholars with the site now known as Tel Arad.
144. (21:1) the Negev. An arid region to the south of Canaan.
145. (21:2) utterly exterminate. The verb is hrm, which refers to a promise to kill all the inhabitants of the city and take nothing from them as plunder. For more on herem, see Herem (war or property).
146. (21:3) Hormah means "utterly destroyed."
147. Edom: a land to the south of Canaan. See Edom.
148. (21:5) worthless bread. A reference to the Manna.
149. venemous serpants. Hebrew hannehashim hasseraphim, literally, "burning serpents," that is, serpents whose bite burns.
150. (21:9) bronze serpent. Hebrew, nahash nehoshet.
151. (21:10) Oboth. The location is uncertain. See Timothy R. Ashley (22 July 1993). The Books of Numbers. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-8028-2523-0. 
152. (21:11) Iye Abarim. Sometimes spelled Ijeabarim. The location is uncertain. See Clyde M. Woods; Justin Rogers (2006). Leviticus-Numbers. College Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-89900-878-3. 
153. (21:12) The location of Zered is uncertain.
154. (21:13) Arnon. "Almost certainly" today as Wadi Mujib, according toBruce Routledge (28 June 2004). Moab in the Iron Age: Hegemony, Polity, Archaeology. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-8122-3801-X. 
155. (21:14) No work by the title "Book of the Wars of Yahweh" has been preserved from ancient Israel. The meaning of the quote about Vaheb is uncertain. Neither Waheb nor Suphah are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.
156. (21:5) Eshed is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible, and the meaning of the quote in general is uncertain.
157. The site of Mattanah is not known. See James L. KUGEL; James L Kugel (30 June 2009). Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era. Harvard University Press. p. 817. ISBN 978-0-674-03976-6. 
158. The sites of Nahaliel and Bamoth are not known. See James L. KUGEL; James L Kugel (30 June 2009). Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era. Harvard University Press. p. 817. ISBN 978-0-674-03976-6. 
159. (22:21)donkey - the Hebrew word is aton (female donkey); in Hebrew, it's generally incorrect to use the generic word.for.an animal for a specific animal known to be female; in English the word "jenny" exists, but is not in common use.
160. (22:40) sheep. The Hebrew word here, tson, can refer both to sheep and goats.
161. (22:41) outskirts of the Israelite camp. Literally, the edge of the people.
162. (23:3) burnt offering. In a regular offering, the people bringing the offering "shared" the offering between the officiant, the priests, and the deity.
163. (23:8, 19) El is the name of the high god in the Canaanite pantheon, and in the Bible is often used as an alternate name of Yahweh.
164. (23:18) Biblical poetry frequently uses what might be described as a "high" or "formal" style, very distinct from the biblical prose style. To approximate this effect, this translation treats unusual poetry-only words by attempting to give them poetic and/or archaic English equivalents.
165. (23:20) he has blessed. Following the Masoretic Text. The Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint read instead, I have blessed.
166. (23:21) shouts in honor of his king. Hebrew teremuat melek, the shouting a people might make when greeting a king.
167. (23:22, etc.) horns: Hebrew toaphot. The meaning is not quite certain, but the idea is that the God of Israel has ox-like power.
168. In biblical poetry, frequently the same meaning is repeated using different words; in this case, the synonymous words ארי and לביא, both meaning "lion".
169. (24:3) opened. Hebrew sh'tum, a word of uncertain meanings. "Closed" is simply a guess: other proposals include "open" and "seeing clearly."
170. (24:4) Shaddai is another name or epithet of Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible. It's precise origins are unclear, and in some passages it may reflect a previous use where it referred to a deity other than Yahweh. See Shaddai.
171. (24:7) than Agag. Agag is a king killed in the time of Israel's first king Saul. The reference here strikes some interpreters as unlikely, and the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch read "Gog." Thomas Kelly Cheyne suggested the reading "Og," which would refer to a king contemporaneous with the events described in Numbers. See George Gray.
172. (24:16) Elyon. In the Hebrew Bible Elyon is an epithet or title applied to Yahweh. See Elyon.
173. (24:17) the Sethites. Literally, in the Masoretic text, the sons of Sheth. However, another interpretations holds that the word is mispointed by the Masoretes, and instead should read the sons of pride, i.e. prideful people.
174. (24:21) nest. The poem appears to be playing with the similarite between Kenite(s), Hebrew qeni, and nest, Hebrew qin.
175. (24:22) Cain, Hebrew qayin, a collective term for the Kenites, spelled the same way as the Cain who murdered Abel in Genesis.
176. their god (both times). Or, their gods.
177. (25:4) execute. The exact meaning of the Hebrew verb translated here as "execute" is uncertain. It clearly refers to execution (compare 2 Samuel 21:6), but what particular mode of execution it might refer to is not certain. Some translations say "hung in (exhibition) gallows.
178. (25:4) in public. Literally, facing the sun.
179. (25:5) his men. In the form of government described according to Exodus 18:25, Moses had deputies assigned to oversee particular groups of Israelites. Each "judge" would then have some men assigned to him, and of these men, "his men", he is to kill the idolaters.
180. (25:8) tent. The exact meaning of this Hebrew word, qubbah, is uncertain, because it is used only here.
181. (25:19/26:1) And it happened after the plague. This translation follows the versification of the King James Version for Numbers 26 first. In Masoretic Text, the words And it happened after the plague are their own verse. The Biblia Hebraica of Kittel numbers this fragment as verse 25:19. Following the Biblia Hebraica would leave the other verses numbered as we have them here. On the other hand, the NJPS translations numbers And it happened after the plague as 26:1, resulting in the verse numbers for the entire chapter being pushed back by one.
182. (27:1)In this case, the name identifies Zelphehad's ancestry as tracing back to early descendants of the tribe of Manasseh.
183. (27:1) Noah. The name is spelled differently from the more famous biblical Noah. The male Noah ends his name with a heth while this Noah has hers spelled with a he.
184. (27:13) pass away. Literally, be gathered to your people, a euphemism in Hebrew for death.
185. (27:21) The Urim and Thummim, according to the Bible, were a means used by the priest in discerning the divine will. They are never clearly described.
186. (28:4) between the two evenings. The exact meaning of this phrase is uncertain.
187. (28:5) ephah. A measure equal to about 22 liters of volume.
188. (28:5) hin. A hin was slightly less than one gallon.
189. (28:9) An issaron was most likely one tenth of an ephah. An ephah was about 22 liters.
190. (28:19) See that they are unblemish. Literally, unblemished they will be to you.
191. (29:1) blowing trumpets. Or, joyful shouting
192. (29:3) issaron. An issaron was most likely a tenth of an ephah.
193. (29:8) See that they are unblemished. Literally, they will be unblemished to you.
194. (31:2) pass away. Literally, be gathered to your people, a standard Hebrew euphemism for death that is accordingly translated by a standard English euphemism for death.
195. to transgress. The Hebrew reads, "to msr transgression," where the meaning of the verb msr is unclear. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon suggests that the correct reading here is to replace msr with mʻl, giving the redundant but perfectly natural expression, literally, to transgress transgression. The present translation is a plausible attempt at conveying the substantial meaning of the verse whether or not the suggested correction to the Masoretic Text is accepted.
196. (31:23) water of impurity. A technical term for a holy water compounded of water mixed with ashes according to the regulations given in Numbers 19, and used to dispel ritual impurities.
197. (31:50) kumaz. The meaning of this word is unknown, and there is some uncertainty about a few of the old words as well. See George Gray.
198. (32:1) the people of Reuben and the people of Gad. Literally, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad.
199. (32:32) built. Or rebuilt, or fortified. The Hebrew verb bnh does not necessarily refer to the first time a city is built. So also in verse 37.
200. (32:40) they dwelt there. The story is set far after the death of Machir, so although the Hebrew literally reads, he dwelt there, this should be taken as a collective reference to the Machirites.
201. (32:41) Havoth Jair means villages of Jair.
202. (33:11) Sin: that is, the name is pronounced sin. It has no relation to the English word sin. The Hebrew word for sin is entirely different.
203. (33:35) Ezion-geber - an ancient port city, somewhere in the area of modern-day cities of Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan.
204. (34:6) Great Sea. That is, the Mediterranean.
205. (34:7) Hor the mountain. In addition to the southern mount Hor, there was apparently a northern one as well.
206. (34:15) on the eastern side. Hebrew qedmah mizrahah, using two different words for "east."
207. (35:4) The cubit was an ancient measure of distance. The Bible records at least two different cubits. A cubit was about 17.5 inches, or a few inches more.
208. (35:5) If the cities were each to be imagined as a single point, a square could be drawn around the point so that, at nearest, each side of the square would be one thousand cubits from the city, while each side would be two thousand cubits long. However, a city is of course not a mere geometric point, so it is unclear exactly what kind of layout is envisaged here. For proposed interpretations, see George Gray's commentary.
209. (35:12) from the avenger. The Septuagint reads, from the avenger of blood. The word translated here as "avenger" is a somewhat broader word in Hebrew (goel), meaning something like, "a person who carries out duties associated with their status as a relative." In this case, though, the reference is to avenging bloodshed, and perhaps, following the Septuagint, it originally read goel ha-adam, "the goel of blood", to specifically indicate the function of revenge.
210. (35:20) throws [something]. The Hebrew does not say what the killer is supposed to have thrown. The Septuagint supplies "any object."
211. someone who commits intentional homicide. Hebrew, a killer who is guilty of a death, as opposed to the unintentional killer mentioned in the next verse.